HOPI  CHIEF. 
(Drawn  by  Howard  McCormick.) 


INDIANS  OF  THE  SOUTHWEST 


I*Y  PLINY   EARLE   GODDARL) 
ASSOCIATE   CURATOR    OF   ANTHROPOLOGY 


II  A  X  1J  B  O  O  K     S  E  R  I  E  S ,    NO.     •* 


YORK 

AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 
1913 


<-/ 

7 


SBDENTAFY  PROFILES  NOMADIC     PEOPLES 


L  JACOMA-ZLTNl         NORTHERN  MEXICO 

u      n 


PLAN  OF  THE  SOUTHWEST  INDIAN  HALL. 


This  hall  contains  both  the  archaeological  and  the  ethnological 
collections  from  the  Southwest. 

The  former  are  on  the  left  hand  side  of  the  hall  in  two  alcoves  marked 
Prehistoric  Pueblos.  The  localities  at  present  most  fully  represented 
are  Chaco  Canyon,  New  Mexico,  explored  by  the  Hyde  Expedition, 

364374 


4  INDIANS    OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

Tularosa  Canyon  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Gila  River,  Casas  Grandes, 
Chihuahua,  Mexico,  in  the  first  alcove.  In  the  second  alcove  will  be 
found  collections  rich  in  textiles  from  Grand  Gulch,  Utah,  and  inter 
esting  specimens  from  Rio  Verde,  Arizona. 

The  ethnological  collections  are  primarily  divided  into  those  from  the 
sedentary  peoples  on  the  left  side  of  the  hall  and  those  from  the  nomadic 
peoples  on  the  right  side.  The  sequence  of  the  alcoves  as  one  passes 
down  the  hall  is  geographical.  First  are  the  Rio  Grande  Pueblos  and 
the  Eastern  Apache  which  show  relationship  to  the  tribes  in  the  ad 
joining  Plains  Indian  Hall.  Toward  the  center  will  be  found  collections 
chiefly  of  ceremonial  objects  from  the  Hopi  and  opposite  them  a  large 
collection  of  blankets  made  by  the  Navajo.  Next  beyond  the  Navajo 
are  represented  the  Pima  and  Papago,  the  basket  makers  of  southern 
Arizona.  At  the  further  end  of  the  hall  are  the  Acoma  and  Zuni  and 
collections  from  Northern  Mexico  which  for  the  present  have  been 
given  space  there. 

A  Navajo  hogan  stands  in  the  large  side  room.  It  is  hoped  that 
life-sized  groups  may  soon  be  provided  for  the  two  smaller  rooms. 

The  collections  in  this  hall  have  -been  obtained  chiefly  by  Museum 
expeditions  and  donations.  The  Hyde  Expedition  resulted  in  a  great 
number  of  archaeological  specimens,  many  o£  which  are  still  in  storage. 
Since  1909  there  have  been  obtained  by  funds  provided  by  the  Com 
mittee  on  the  Primitive  Peoples  of  the  Southwest  the  ethnological 
collections  from  the  Rio  Grande  and  Hopi  pueblos  and  from  the 
Apache,  Pima,  and  Papago  tribes,  and  the  archaeological  specimens 
from  the  Galisteo  historic  and  prehistoric  ruins  and  from  Old  Cochiti. 
A  large  number  of  the  baskets  were  donated  by  Dr.  James  Douglas; 
the  Navajo  blankets  represent  the  generosity  of  Mrs.  Russell  Sage  and 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan. 


PREFACE. 


ALTHOUGH  a  great  deal  of  time  has  been  devoted  to 
the  study  of  the  native  peoples  of  the  Southwest  and 
the  prehistoric  ruins  in  that  region  by  many  ethnologists 
and  archaeologists  our  knowledge  of  them  is  still  far 
from  complete.  There  are  many  ruins  which  have 
never  been  visited  by  a  trained  observer;  the  Rio 
Grande  peoples  persistently  oppose  the  study  of  their 
ceremonial  life;  and  notwithstanding  the  great  number 
of  treatises  on  the  Hopi,  there  is  none  of  them  which 
gives  a  satisfactory  account  of  their  every  day  life  and 
of  their,  social  customs  and  organization. 

The  author  has  first  hand  knowledge  of  the  Athapas 
can  speaking  peoples  only.  The  accounts  given  in  the 
following  pages  of  the  prehistoric  and  sedentary  peoples 
have  been  drawn  from  papers  published  by  many 
authors.  The  most  important  works  on  the  Southwest 
are  listed  at  the  end  of  this  book  and  in  them  will  be 
found  the  sources  of  the  information  here  given. 

The  author  wishes  to  make  grateful  recognition  here 
of  the  help  given  in  the  preparation  and  revision  of  the 
text  by  Bella  Weitzner  and  his  colleagues  in  the 
Museum.  Mr.  F.  W.  Hodge  of  Washington  has  kindly 
read  the  proofs.  The  various  illustrations  have  been 
credited  to  the  persons  who  have  permitted  their  use. 
Their  generosity  has  added  materially  to  whatever 
interest  and  value  this  short  account  of  Southwestern 
peoples  may  have. 


CONTEXTS. 

PAGE. 

PREFACE    5 

INTRODUCTION 11 

Region  Defined.     Environment.     Influence  of  Environment. 

Social  Tendencies. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  ANCIENT  PEOPLES 20 

Distribution;  San  Juan,  Rio  Grande,  Pecos,  Gila,  Little  Colo 
rado.  Buildings;  Sites,  Materials,  Ceilings,  Doors,  Kivas. 
Types  of  Ruins;  Cliff  Palace,  Spruce  Tree  House,  Balcony 
House,  Dulce  Ruin,  Pueblo  Bonito,  Cavate  Lodges,  Natural 
Caves.  Means  of  Sustenance;  Irrigation,  Hunting.  Manu 
factured  Objects;  Pottery,  Baskets,  Sandals,  Cordage,  Bags 
and  Cloth,  Metates,  Turquoise.  Disposal  of  the  Dead.  Re 
ligion. 

CHAPTER  II. 

MODERN  PUEBLOS 58 

Exploration;  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  Marcos  de  Niza,  Coronado. 
The  Conquest.  The  Rebellion.  Distribution  in  1540;  Tus- 
ayan,  Acoma,  Tiguex,  Salinas,  Quirix,  Tanos,  Cicuya,  Jemez, 
Tewa.  Present  Distribution;  Rio  Grande,  Hopi,  Zuni.  Hab 
itations;  Arrangement  of  Buildings,  Building  Material, 
Shelters.  Kivas.  Food;  Agriculture,  Preparation  of  Food, 
Hunting.  Dress.  Industrial  Arts;  Pottery,  Basketry,  Weav 
ing.  Decorative  Art.  Social  Organization.  Social  Customs. 
Political  Organization.  Religious  Practices;  Festivals,  Sia 
Rain  Ceremony,  Snake  Dance.  Religious  Beliefs. 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  NOMADIC  PEOPLES 127 

Distribution;  Athapascan,  Piman,  Yuman,  Shoshonean. 
Shelter.  Food  Supply.  Clothing.  Industrial  Arts;  Pottery, 
Basketry,  Weaving,  Silverwork,  Beadwork.  Social  Organiza 
tion.  Social  Customs.  Political  Organization.  Games.  Re 
ligion;  Ceremonies. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CONCLUSION 176 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 185 

INDEX  187 


INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


MAPS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE. 

Hopi  Chief Frontispiece 

Plan  of  the  Southwest  Indian  Hall 3 

Culture  Areas  in  North  America 13 

Villages  and  Tribes  of  the  Southwest 14 

Topographical  Map  of  the  Southwest 16 

Distribution  of  Forests  and  Rainfall 17 

Square  Watch  Tower.     San  Juan  River 25 

Diagram  of  Typical  Small  Ruin        26 

Portion  of  Masonry  Wall.     Chaco  Canyon    ........  27 

Ceiling,  Spruce  Tree  Ruin 28 

Kiva  at  Spruce  Tree  Ruin        29 

Cliff  Palace 32 

Dulce  Ruin 35 

Pueblo  Bonito  Ruin 37 

Groundplan  and  Elevation,  Cavate  Lodge.     Rio  Verde  Valley    .  38 

Prehistoric  Coiled  Ware        42 

Tularosa  Pottery 43 

Pueblo  Bonito  Pottery 44 

Prehistoric  Pottery.     Lower  Gila  River 44 

Types  of  Prehistoric  Sandals 46 

Yucca  Fiber  Bag.    Grand  Gulch 47 

Prehistoric  Cotton  Kilt.     Grand  Gulch,  Utah 48 

Prehistoric  Implements  used  in  Weaving 50 

Objects  of  Wood  and  Bone 51 

Flaked  Stones 52 

Prehistoric  Stone  Metate  and  Bowl 53 

Stone  Axes  and  Hammers 55 

Polished  Stone  Chisels 55 

Prehistoric  Rattle  and  Flageolet 56 

Pueblo  of  Walpi 69 

Pueblo  of  Zuni 69 

Floor  Plan  of  Hopi  Living  Room 70 

Kiva  and  Oven.     San  Ildefonso 75 

Floor  Plan  of  Hopi  Kiva 77 

Roof  of  Hopi  Kiva 77 

Hoes  and  Throwing  Stick 80 

Hopi  Robe 86 

Woman's  Dress.     Acoma  88 


CONTEXTS. 


Embroidered  Shirt.     Acoma 89 

Santa  Clara  Woman  firing  Pottery 91 

San  Ildefonso  Pottery 92 

Hopi  Pottery 94 

Hopi  Baskets 95 

Hopi  Prayer  Offerings 109 

Clowns  climbing  Pole.     Taos 112 

Deer  Dance.     Nambe 114 

Hopi  Kachina  Dolls 115 

Snake  and  Antelope  Priests 120 

Snake  Priests  dancing  with  Snake 122 

San  Carlos  Apache  Women  building  a  House    ....          .  133 

White  Mountain  Apache  House 134 

Navajo  House 135 

Jicarilla  Woman  gathering  Mescal 137 

Mescal  Knife.     San  Carlos  Apache        138 

Mescalero  Girl  in  Native  Costume 141 

Navajo  Man       142 

San  Carlos  Apache  Tray 144 

Jicarilla  Tray 144 

Mescalero  Unfinished  Basket ....  146 

Jicarilla  and  San  Carlos  Apache  Baskets 147 

Pima  Trays 148 

Pima  Storage  Basket        150 

Papago  Plaited  Basket         151 

Navajo  Woman  Spinning 152 

Navajo  Woman  Weaving 153 

Navajo  Belt  Loom 155 

Navajo  Chief  Blanket 155 

Navajo  Blanket       158 

Hoop  and  Pole  Game.     Apache 164 

Jicarilla  Relay  Race 169 

Petroglyphs.     San  Juan  Valley 179 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  Southwest  claims  the  attention  of  those  inter 
ested  in  ethnology  in  three  important  particulars. 
Such  physical  conditions  as  the  rather  scanty  rainfall, 
the  great  evaporation,  the  high  elevation  of  the  table 
lands,  and  the  peculiar  vegetation  which  exists  under 
these  conditions,  set  it  off  rather  distinctly  from  the 
Eastern  and  Central  United  States.  Under  these  not 
too  favorable  physical  surroundings,  there  have  been 
maintained  for  a  long  time  two  strikingly  different 
cultures,  both  meeting  in  their  own  way  these  condi 
tions  with  success.  Finally,  we  have  here  an  unusual 
perspective  resulting  from  the  splendidly  preserved 
prehistoric  ruins  and  from  historical  records  and 
descriptive  literature  covering  nearly  four  centuries  of 
contact  with  Europeans. 


REGION  DEFINED. 

This  region  is  separated  from  the  culture  area  of  the 
Plains  by  the  staked  plains  where  there  exists  neither 
fuel  nor  drinkable  water.  They  were  crossed  in  both 
directions:  by  the  people  of  the  Southwest  who  went 
eastward  to  hunt  the  buffalo  and  by  the  Comanche 
and  Kiowa  who  raided  the  Mexican  and  Indian  settle- 


12  INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

ments  of  New  Mexico.  Between  the  Southwest  and 
the  great  Aztec  civilization  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico 
were  rough  mountains  and  deserts  inhabited  by  savage 
tribes.  Articles  passed  northward  in  pre-Spanish 
times  we  know,  but  just  how  much  influence  these  two 
advanced  cultures  had  on  each  other  is  yet  to  be 
definitely  determined.  On  the  west  a  might}r  river, 
the  Colorado,  backed  by  a  real  and  pitiless  desert 
furnished  a  barrier  between  the  cultures  of  the  South 
west  and  that  of  the  California  coast  which  is  best 
illustrated  by  the  remains  found  on  Santa  Barbara 
Islands.  To  the  north,  are  rugged  and  snow-covered 
mountains  around  and  through  which,  however,  the 
Ute  came,  bringing  with  them  the  prevailing  language 
and  the  customs  of  the  Great  Basin.  Only  on  the 
northeast  was  a  physical  barrier  lacking.  The  people 
of  the  Southwest  and  those  of  the  Plains  frequented 
the  sanje-  hunting  grounds  for  buffalo  and  were  con 
stantly  either  avoiding  each  other  or  having  unsought 
and  hostile  meetings.  When  once  partial  isolation  of  a 
people  has  resulted  in  peculiar  dress,  habits,  customs, 
and  language,  these  differences  are  apt  to  become  added 
barriers  preventing  free  social  intercourse  and  inter 
marriage.  The  existing  barriers,  both  physical  and 
social,  were  sufficient  to  allow  the  origin  and  mainte 
nance  in  the  Southwest  of  typical  and  distinct  cultures 
with  gradual  transitions  toward  the  Plains  on  the  part 
of  the  nomadic  peoples  of  the  northeast  and  toward 
Mexico  by  the  Pima  speaking  peoples  in  the  southwest. 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


ENVIRONMENT. 

This  region  varies  in  altitude  from  the  mountains 
east  of  the  Rio  Grande  which  have  an  elevation  of 
nearly  14,000  feet,  to  sea  level  at  Yuma,  where  the 


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14  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

Gila  flows  into  the  Colorado.  The  average  elevation 
is  high,  due  to  the  great  plateau  between  the  Rio 
Grande,  the  Mogollon  Mountains  north  of  the  Gila, 
and  the  Colorado  River.  This  vast  tableland,  from 
4000  to  8000  feet  high,  has  on  it  isolated  mountains 
such  as  San  Mateo  (11,389  feet)  and  San  Francisco 
peaks  (12,794  feet),  and  innumerable  flat-topped, 
sheer-walled  mesas.  South  of  the  Mogollon  Mountains 
the  country  tilts  down  and  merges  wim  the  low  dry 
semi-desert  of  southwestern  Arizona.  The  rainfall 
varies  with  the  elevation  from  24  inches  at  Flagstaff  to 
3  inches  along  the  lower  portion  of  the  Gila  and  averages 
from  10  to  15  inches  over  the  greater  portion  of  the 
region.  The  evaporation  is  so  great  that  the  streams 
decrease  in  volume  as  they  proceed  from  the  mountains 
until  many  of  them  disappear  entirely.  Even  the  Rio 
Grande  may  at  times  be  crossed  dry  shod  at  El  Paso. 

The  higher  mountains  and  much  of  the  high  plateaus 
are  covered  with  heavy  growths  of  pine.  Lower  down 
are  diminutive  forests  of  pinon,  cedar,  and  juniper. 
Below  these  flourish  mesquite  and  sagebrush  and  on  the 
lowest  portions  of  the  region  are  the  giant  cactus  and 
the  smaller  ones  adapted  to  arid  conditions.  The 
plants  of  greatest  importance  are  the  plums,  cherries, 
agave  (century  plant),  the  yucca,  the  cacti,  the  pinon, 
and  the  mesquite. 

With  the  exception  of  the  buffalo  which  are  commonly 
believed  not  to  have  crossed  the  Pecos  in  any  large 
numbers,  all  the  larger  animals  of  the  southern  United 
States  were  formerly  common.  From  the  standpoint 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

of  food,  the  most  important  were  the  elk,  deer,  antelope, 
rabbits,  prairie-dogs,  and  wild  turkeys. 


INFLUENCE  OF  ENVIRONMENT. 

The  topography,  the  climate,  and  the  vegetable  and 
animal  life  of  a  region  largely  determine  for  the  men 
living  in  it  the  character  of  their  dress  and  houses  and 
their  manner  of  securing  food. 

Certain  physical  surroundings  also  in  a  large  measure 
influence  art,  religion,  and  man's  conception  of  the 
universe  as  a  whole.     In  the  Southwest  is  an  atmos 
phere  wonderfully  clear  through  which  one  sees  with 
great  distinctness  the  sculptured  mountain  peaks  and 
ridges    and   the   variously    colored,    flat-topped,   ter 
raced    mesas.     The    violent    storms    with    terrifying 
thunder  and  frequent  rainbows  which  mark  the  sea 
sonal  rains;    the  mirage,  the  shimmer,  and  the  whirl 
winds  of  the  dry  season  have  produced  results  which 
we  find  reflected  in  songs,  formulated  prayers,  and 
pictorial   art.     Only  in   the   Southwest   do   the  gods 
travel  with  rainbows  and  lightning  and  wrap  themselves 
in  clouds  tied  with  sunbeams.     So  pronounced   are 
these    features    that    one    feels    from   whatever   un 
known  source  came  the  people  themselves  with  their 
language  and  original  customs  that  many  features  of 
their  arts,  their  mythology,  and  their  religion  could 
only  have  arisen  and  could  only  continue  to  exist  in 
the  Southwest. 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


8 


Topographical  Map  of  the  Southwest,  showing   the  Mountain 
Ranges  and  an  Elevated  Plateau  in  the  Middle. 


INTRODUCTION. 


17 


Distribution   of  Forests  and  Rainfall.     Shaded  Portion  indicates 
Timber  and  the  Black  Lines  Rainfall  Areas. 


SOCIAL  TENDENCIES. 

That  physical  environment  has  not  been  the  only 
force  which  has  molded  the  life  and  thought  of  the 
Indians  of  the  Southwest  is  apparent  from  the  fact 
that  two  rather  distinct  cultures  exist  there.  One 
group  of  tribes,  the  Navajo,  the  Apache,  and  the  Ute 
meet  the  physical  conditions  with  certain  habits  of  life 
and  social  tendencies.  In  former  years  they  lived 
principally  by  hunting  and  were  obliged  to  go  to  the 


18  INDIANS    OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

more  favorable  places  to  secure  game.  These  places 
were  not  the  same  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  and  in  all 
years  and  they  therefore  needed  portable  houses  such 
as  the  tipis  of  the  Plains,  or  structures  easily  and 
quickly  built  like  the  dome-shaped  houses  of  the 
Apache.  They  had  great  fear  of  houses  in  which  death 
had  occurred  and  they  deserted  or  burned  them  to 
gether  with  most  of  their  contents.  When  several 
deaths  had  occurred  in  a  locality,  the  place  was  avoided. 
Such  customs  prevented  the  building  of  permanent 
houses  or  the  long  occupation  of  the  same  site.  The 
people  lived  scattered  over  considerable  areas  in  large 
family  groups  under  a  minor  chief.  Only  at  long 
intervals  and  on  special  occasions  did  they  all  come 
together  for  the  celebration  of  tribal  ceremonies. 

On  the  other  hand  the  present  day  and  prehistoric 
sedentary  peoples  of  the  Southwest  practised  agri 
culture  the  fruits  of  which  mature  seasonally  and  must 
be  made  to  last  from  season  to  season.  A  provident 
people  makes  provision  against  crop  failure  and  feels 
the  need  of  at  least  a  year's  supply  to  ward  off  famine. 
Therefore,  large  places  for  storage  must  be  built  and 
these  must  furnish  protection  against  moisture,  animals, 
and  less  provident  mankind.  In  many  places  these 
people  made  use  of  irrigation  permitting  them  to  live 
together  in  considerable  numbers.  Some  peculiar 
necessity  or  social  instinct  resulted  in  considerable 
numbers  of  people  living  together  in  great  community 
houses.  It  may  have  been  the  need  of  cooperation  in 
defensive  warfare,  or  it  may  have  been  the  great 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

economy  of  cooperative  labor  in  building  houses  of 
such  a  sort  that  one  roof  and  one  set  of  outer  walls 
served  to  shelter  many  families.  Either  as  a  cause  or 
a  result,  we  find  a  complicated  religious  system,  with 
orders  of  priests,  councils,  and  governors  to  control  the 
people  in  their  joint  industries  and  in  warfare,  and  a 
system  of  social  grouping  consisting  of  large  divisions 
known  as  clans. 

Under  such  a  physical  environment,  shaped  by  such 
social  tendencies,  there  developed  in  the  Southwest  a 
civilization  comparable  to  that  of  Mexico  and  Peru, 
into  which  in  1540  the  Spaniards  came,  with  a  knowledge 
of  metals  and  firearms,  bringing  with  them  horses, 
cattle,  and  sheep.  Later  came  the  Franciscan  mission 
aries  who  were  intent  on  breaking  down  the  religious 
beliefs  and  practices  of  native  growth  entwined  into 
the  daily  life  and  social  organization  of  the  people 
and  substituting  Christianity.  The  fortunes  of  war 
transferred  this  territory  to  the  United  States  in 
1847.  Notwithstanding  this  long  period  of  contact 
with  European  peoples,  customs,  and  religion,  we  still 
have  in  the  Southwest  many  thousands  of  pure  blood 
natives  living  in  the  same  localities,  in  the  same  sort 
of  houses,  by  the  same  means,  thinking  the  same 
thoughts,  and  following  the  same  religion  they  did 
when  found  by  the  Spaniards,  and  perhaps  for  many 
centuries  before  that  time. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  ANCIENT  PEOPLES. 

BECAUSE  there  are  various  kinds  of  ruins  in  the 
Southwest,  it  has  been  believed  by  some  that  they  were 
the  homes  of  two  separate  peoples:  Those  who  built 
the  houses  under  the  cliffs  and  in  caves  have  been  called 
the  Cliff-dwellers,  while  those  who  built  in  the  valleys 
have  sometimes  been  called  Aztecs  under  the  belief 
that  the  founders  of  ancient  Mexico  migrated  from  the 
Southwest  at  an  early  date.  There  is,  however,  little 
evidence  for  supposing  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  cliff 
ruins  and  the  people  who  lived  in  the  ruined  pueblos  of 
the  valleys  were  of  different  races  or  that  they  lived  at 
different  periods  of  time.  They  seem  merely  to  have 
adapted  their  dwellings  to  the  character  of  the  locality 
and  the  building  materials  at  hand. 

It  is  at  present  impossible  to  say  how  long  ago  the 
Southwest  was  peopled.  There  is  no  undisputed 
evidence  of  man's  presence  in  America  in  very  remote 
times.  In  Europe,  men  were  capable  of  making 
serviceable  tools  half  a  million  years  ago.  While  no 
such  age  is  claimed  for  man  in  America  there  is  no 
reason  for  thinking  he  has  recently  arrived. 

20 


THE   ANCIENT    PEOPLES.  21 


DISTRIBUTION. 

As  might  be  expected  in  a  semi-arid  region  the  agri 
cultural  population  in  prehistoric  times  was  concen 
trated  at  the  higher  elevations  where  the  rainfall  was 
the  greatest  and  in  the  river  valleys  where  irrigation 
could  be  easily  practised. 

San  Juan.  One  of  the  most  important  regions 
anciently  occupied  was  that  watered  by  the  northern 
tributaries  of  the  San  Juan  River.  These  streams  are 
fed  by  the  snows  of  the  mountains  of  southern  Colorado 
and  Utah.  At  some  distance  from  their  sources  they 
are  confined  in  sheer-walled  canyons  which  unite  with 
each  other  as  they  approach  the  San  Juan  which  enters 
the  Colorado  above  the  Grand  Canyon.  Some  of  the 
ruins  are  on  the  tablelands  between  the  streams,  others 
are  at  the  head  of  the  canyons,  and  many  are  in  the 
canyons  themselves  either  on  their  floors  or  under  their 
overhanging  walls.  The  Cliff  Palace  and  the  Spruce 
Tree  House,  two  of  the  largest  and  best  known  cliff- 
ruins,  are  in  this  region. 

In  Chaco  Canyon,  a  branch  of  Chaco  Valley,  there 
is  a  cluster  of  eleven  large  ruins  which  evidently  repre 
sent  an  important  political  group  of  prehistoric  villages. 
One  of  these,  Pueblo  Bonito,  is  hardly  surpassed  in  size 
and  interest  anywhere.  Canyon  de  Chelly  which  joins 
Chinlee  Valley  has  many  ruins  both  on  the  floor  of  the 
valley  and  under  the  walls. 

Rio  Grande.     On  the  western  side  of  the  Rio  Grande 


22  INDIANS   OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 

Valley  are  many  large  ruins.  Some  of  them  are  in  the 
valley  of  the  Rio  Chama;  many  of  them  are  on  the 
mesas  of  the  Pajarito  tableland  south  of  it;  and  others 
are  in  the  Canyon  Rito  de  los  Frijoles.  In  the  Valley 
of  the  Rio  Grande  itself  and  along  its  eastern  tribu 
taries,  are  ruins  older  than  the  Spanish  era,  others  which 
were  deserted  during  the  rebellion,  1680-1692,  and  a 
number  of  villages  which  have  persisted  until  the 
present  day. 

Pecos.  The  Pueblo  of  Pecos  on  the  river  of  that  name 
was  occupied  until  1838.  In  prehistoric  times  there 
were  many  pueblos  for  40  miles  along  the  valley.  Be 
tween  the  Rio  Pecos  and  the  Rio  Grande  there  are 
many  ruins  arid  evidences  of  former  occupation  by  a 
sedentary,  pottery-making  people.  Some  of  these 
ruins,  notably  those  known  as  Abo,  Quara,  Tabira  or 
Gran  Quivira  were  still  occupied  under  Spanish  rule. 

Gila.  Along  the  upper  tributaries  of  the  Gila  and 
Salt  Rivers  there  are  evidences  of  a  dense  population 
which  occupied  cliff-dwellings  and  community  houses 
standing  in  the  valleys.  Further  down  these  rivers, 
the  houses  were  mostly  built  with  mud  walls;  only 
mounds  of  earth  and  boulders  marking  the  outlines  of 
the  walls  remain.  Not  far  from  Florence,  Arizona,  near 
the  Gila  River  is  a  large  and  noted  ruin  called  Casa 
Grande.  A  number  of  houses  were  surrounded  by  a 
wall.  These  are  of  peculiar  construction  and  resemble 
ruins  in  Chihuahua,  Mexico,  known  as  Casas  Grandes. 
The  Rio  Verde  which  flows  into  the  Salt  from  the 
north  has  a  great  number  and  a  great  variety  of  ruins 


THE   ANCIENT   PEOPLES.  23 

in  its  valley  which  seem  to  mark  the  western  limit  of 
this  prehistoric  culture. 

Little  Colorado.  There  remains  another  large  tribu 
tary  of  the  Colorado  which  flows  through  the  heart  of 
the  Southwest,  the  Little  Colorado.  On  it  are  many 
prehistoric  ruins,  villages  with  old  Spanish  churches 
deserted  in  historic  times,  and  the  still  inhabited 
villages  of  the  Hopi  and  Zuni. 

While  there  is  no  valid  reason  for  making  a  distinc 
tion  between  the  ancient  villages  that  were  deserted 
and  those  which  remained  occupied  until  the  coming  of 
the  Spanish,  it  is  convenient  to  treat  them  separately 
since  in  the  one  case  all  our  information  is  derived  from 
the  ruins  themselves  and  their  contents,  and  in  the 
other  we  have  descriptions  left  by  the  Spanish  and 
observations  made  in  our  own  time. 


BUILDINGS. 

Sites.  The  building  sites  chosen  by  the  prehistoric 
people  seem  to  have  depended  in  part  upon  the  topog 
raphy  of  the  particular  locality  and  in  part  upon  the 
needs  of  defence  in  a  given  area.  Few  available  caves 
seem  to  have  been  overlooked.  The  overhanging  cliffs 
protected  the  building  from  rains  and  most  such  situa 
tions  were  easily  defended.  The  size  of  the  buildings 
was  of  course  limited  by  the  extent  of  the  cave.  Many 
of  the  pueblos  were  built  on  the  valley  floors  or  in  open 
plains,  little  thought  being  given  to  the  ease  with  which 


24  INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

the  enemy  might  approach.  But  because  of  their 
peculiar  arrangement  and  construction  such  buildings 
were  often  easily  defended.  They  were  built  either 
in  the  form  of  a  rectangle  or  a  semicircle  around  a  court 
from  which  they  were  terraced  back  toward  the  outer 
wall  which  had  no  openings  low  enough  to  be  reached 
by  the  enemy.  Some  of  these  like  Pueblo  Bonito  in 
Chaco  Canyon  had  hundreds  of  rooms.  A  great 
number  of  villages  were  placed  on  the  tops  of  mesas  the 
walls  of  which  were  steep  enough  to  furnish  a  consider 
able  degree  of  protection.  Puye,  one  of  the  largest 
ruins  on  the  Pajarito  Plateau,  is  so  situated.  In  many 
cases  a  location  was  chosen  at  the  head  of  a  canyon, 
on  each  side  arid  at  the  end  of  which  the  houses  were 
built  making  it  impossible  for  the  enemy  to  completely 
surround  the  settlement.  There  are  ruins  in  many 
places  which  both  from  their  character  and  their 
location  seem  to  have  been  built  solely  for  defense. 
These  are  round  or  square  towers  of  considerable 
height  which  have  a  few  small  openings  adapted  by 
their  size  and  location  for  the  observation  of  the  enemy 
and  for  the  discharge  of  arrows.  They  are  usually 
placed  so  as  to  command  a  wide  view  of  the  surround 
ing  country,  often  being  perched  on  the  top  of  a  boulder 
or  block  of  stone.  Widely  scattered  are  small  ruins 
consisting  of  a  few  rooms  on  three  sides  of  a  small  plaza 
in  which  is  a  circular  room  known  as  a  kiva,  or  estufa. 
Near  by  is  usually  a  rubbish  pile  in  which  human 
remains  are  almost  always  found,  showing  that  they 
were  generally  used  as  burial  places  also. 


THE    ANCIENT    PEOPLES.  -Jo 

Materials.  The  material  employed  in  building  ap 
parently  depended  upon  the  ease  with  which  stone 
could  be  quarried.  In  the  San  Juan  region,  the  sand 
stone  was  not  difficult  to  work  and  on  the  Pajarito 
Plateau  the  tufa  was  cut  with  ease.  As  a  result,  in 


Square  Watch  Tower,  San  Juan  River. 
(Courtesy  of  Dr.  Prudden.) 

both  places  the  walls  are  mostly  built  of  well-dressed 
blocks  of  stone.  In  other  localities  the  stone  is  in 
thin  strata  and  was  broken  off  and  dressed  only  enough 
to  make  the  surface  of  the  walls  even.  The  spaces 


26  INDIANS   OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 

between  the  larger  undressed  stones  were  filled  with 
small  fragments.  Some  of  the  walls  show  regular 
courses  of  large  stones  alternating  with  courses  of 
smaller  ones  producing  a  banded  effect  evidently 
sought  for  as  a  decoration. 


Diagram  of  Typical  Small  Ruin. 
(Courtesy  of  Dr.  Prudden.) 

Along  the  lower  Gila  and  Salt  Rivers  bed-rock  as  a 
source  of  building  material  was  not  available  and 
round  river  boulders  were  used,  the  greater  part  of  the 


THE   ANCIENT   PEOPLES. 


27 


walls  being  composed  of  adobe,  the  peculiar  clay  so 
abundant  in  the  Southwest.  The  walls  of  Casa  Grande 
seem  to  have  been  made  by  pouring  moist  clay  and 


Portion  of  Masonry  Wall,  Chaco  Canyon. 
(Courtesy  of  Dr.  Prudden.) 


28 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


gravel  into  forms  as  concrete  walls  are  now  made. 
When  a  section  of  the  wall  had  hardened,  the  forms 
were  moved  and  another  section  made.  Many  of  the 
walls  of  the  prehistoric  pueblos  of  the  Galisteo  Basin 
were  built  of  large  blocks  of  adobe  laid  in  adobe 
mortar. 

The  inner  walls  were  almost  always  plastered  and 


Ceiling,  Spruce  Tree  Ruin. 
(Photo,  by  Nussbaum  ) 

sometimes  ornamented  by  painting.  The  impressions 
of  the  hands  of  the  plasterers  found  here  and  there 
indicate  that  the  women  did  that  part  of  the  work  at 
least. 

Ceilings.     The  ceilings  and  roofs  of  the  rooms  were 
made  by  placing  round  logs  crosswise  with  their  ends 


THE    ANCIENT    PEOPLES. 


29 


resting  on  or  built  into  the  walls.  Above  these  were 
placed  small  poles  much  closer  together  and  running 
in  the  other  direction  and  on  them  a  layer  of  brush  and 
small  sticks.  A  thick  coating  of  clay  was  then  applied 
and  well  packed  down  probably  by  tramping  it  with 
the  feet.  This  formed  the  roof  or  the  floor  of  the  story 
above,  as  the  case  might  be. 


Kiva  at  Spruce  Tree  Ruin. 
(Photo,  by  Nussbaum.) 


Doors.  The  walls  of  the  lower  stories  were  usually 
without  openings  except  small  ones  to  admit  light  and 
air  and  through  which  one  might  look  out.  The  larger 
openings  in  the  upper  portions  of  the  walls  were  either 
rectangular  or  T-shaped,  and  were  raised  a  foot  or  two 
above  the  room  floor  and  served  for  both  doors  and 
windows.  They  were  evidently  reached  by  ladders 


30  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

and  in  some  cases  had  balconies  below  them  on  which  a 
landing  from  the  ladders  was  made.  These  balconies 
were  supported  by  the  large  ceiling  timbers  which  were 
allowed  to  project  beyond  the  walls  for  this  purpose. 
The  lower  stories  were  reached  by  hatchways  and 
ladders,  either  from  the  rooms  above  or  from  the  roofs 
when  the  building  was  terraced. 

Kivas.  The  kivas,  peculiar  rooms  found  in  all  large 
ruins,  are  for  the  most  part  circular  and  below  ground 
and  are  ordinarily  located  in  the  courtyard.  They 
vary  greatly  in  size  from  ten  or  twelve  feet  to  thirty  or 
more  feet  in  diameter.  A  firepit  is  usually  found  near 
the  center  and  in  most  cases  there  is  an  airshaft  of  some 
size  opening  at  the  level  of  the  floor  and  a  masonry  wall 
or  stone  slab  in  front  of  the  opening  to  prevent  a  direct 
draft.  It  is  not  unusual  to  find  masonry  walls  extend 
ing  into  the  circular  kivas  for  some  feet,  but  the  pur 
pose  of  such  construction  does  not  appear.  They  were 
evidently  entered  by  hatchways  through  the  roofs 
which  were  in  all  probability  of  construction  similar  to 
those  of  the  ordinary  rooms. 


TYPES  OF  RUINS. 

Cliff  Palace.  The  largest  and  perhaps  best  known 
cliff-dwelling  is  situated  in  the  Mesa  Verde  region  a  few 
miles  southwest  of  Mancos,  Colorado.  It  has  been 
named  Cliff  Palace  and  has  been  described  by  many 
writers  since  it  was  first  mentioned  in  public  print  about 


THE  ANCIENT   PEOPLES.  31 

1890.  The  cave  which  shelters  it  is  425  feet  long,  80 
feet  wide  in  the  middle,  and  reaches  an  extreme  height 
of  80  feet.  It  occupies  the  eastern  end  of  Cliff  Palace 
Canyon  which  is  here  about  200  feet  deep.  The  cave 
opening,  therefore,  faces  the  west,  with  its  axis  roughly 
north  and  south.  It  resulted  from  the  wearing  away 
by  the  elements  of  a  stratum  of  soft  sandstone  which 
was  protected  above  by  a  harder  layer  that  has  remained 
to  form  the  roof.  Parts  of  the  rock  have  broken  from 
this  roof  and  have  fallen  to  the  floor  below  where  they 
have  either  remained  or  rolled  out  to  form  a  slop 
ing  talus  along  its  base.  The  floor  of  the  cave  as  a 
result  is  very  uneven  so  that  the  structure  stands  upon 
four  terraces  of  varying  height  with  some  of  the  rooms 
resting  upon  large  blocks  of  rock. 

It  appears  that  it  was  not  planned  and  built  as  a 
whole  but  that  the  first  buildings  were  added  to  from 
time  to  time,  both  on  the  sides  and  above.  The  walls 
of  this  structure  which  enclose  117  rooms,  not  counting 
those  of  the  upper  stories,  were  built  of  red  sandstone 
well  dressed  and  laid  with  adobe  mortar  in  regular 
courses.  The  irregularities  are  chinked  with  stone 
fragments.  The  corners  of  the  walls  are  not  bonded 
nor  are  the  joints  of  the  stones  regularly  broken  in  the 
courses.  It  seems  that  these  devices  and  that  of  the 
arch  and  its  keystone  were  unknown  to  the  ancient 
peoples.  These  walls  which  are  from  one  to  two  feet 
in  thickness  were  generally  plastered  on  the  inside  and 
sometimes  on  the  outside  with  a  yellow  plaster  laid 
on  and  smoothed  with  the  hands,  the  prints  of  which 


32 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


are  often  plainly  visible.  In  a  few  cases,  the  walls  are 
ornamented  with  paintings. 

Both  rectangular  and  T-shaped  doorways  are  found 
and  several  of  them  are  provided  with  grooves  in  which 
slabs  of  stone  were  placed  to  close  them. 

Many  of  the  ninety-four  rooms  which  were  evidently 


Cliff 

used  for  household  purposes  have  fireplaces  either  in 
one  corner  or  in  the  center.  The  walls  are  blackened 
with  smoke  for  which  no  other  exit  was  provided  than 
the  doors  and  windows.  In  a  few  of  the  rooms  there 
is  a  raised  bank  along  one  side  which  may  have  fur 
nished  sleeping  places.  Certain  rooms,  especially  those 
with  other  rooms  above  them,  show  no  signs  of  fire  or 
smoke  and  since  they  were  entirely  dark  were  without 


THE    ANCIENT    PEOPLES. 


33 


doubt  used  as  storerooms  for  the  food  supply.  A 
number  of  rooms  devoted  to  the  grinding  of  corn  have 
boxes  made  of  slabs  of  stone  in  which  the  grinding  was 
done  on  metates  as  at  present  in  the  Southwest.  One 
room  has  four  such  boxes  side  by  side  with  the  metates 
still  in  place.  There  are  many  fireplaces  in  an  open 


Palace. 


(Copyrighted  by  F.  K.  Vroeland.) 


plaza  in  the  middle  of  the  village  where  much  of  the 
cooking  was  probably  done. 

There  are  twenty-three  kivas,  situated  in  a  court, 
most  of  them  having  their  roofs  level  with  the  floors  of 
the  ordinary  rooms  of  the  first  story.  To  give  some  of 
them  the  required  depth  the  solid  rock  was  excavated 
for  several  feet. 


34  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

A  round  tower  rising  from  the  summit  of  a  block  of 
rock  reaches  the  roof  of  the  cave.  It  has  been  supposed 
that  this  served  as  a  watch-tower.  It  may  have  been 
that  the  whole  structure  was  intended  as  a  place  in 
which  the  reserve  food  supply  might  be  stored  and 
defended,  since  in  the  neighborhood  are  ruins  of  other 
community  structures  in  less  easily  defended  situations. 

Spruce  Tree  House.  About  two  miles  northeast  in 
an  adjoining  canyon  is  another  cave  with  a  dwelling 
nearly  as  large  and  much  better  preserved.  It  is 
named  Spruce  Tree  House  from  a  tree  found  growing 
in  the  ruins  which  when  cut  in  1891  showed  an  age  of 
169  years.  In  this  dwelling  are  several  ceilings  in  a 
good  state  of  preservation.  This  building  and  Cliff 
Palace  have  been  restored  under  the  direction  of  Dr. 
J.  W.  Fewkes  and  it  is  expected  that  they  will  remain  in 
this  condition  as  permanent  examples  of  such  structures. 

Balcony  House.  Not  far  from  Cliff  Palace  and  in  the 
same  canyon  is  Balcony  House,  named  so  because  one 
of  the  balconies  below  the  doors  of  an  upper  story  was 
found  intact  by  Nordenskiold  who  describes  it  as 
follows: 

"The  second  story  is  furnished,  along  the  wall  just  mentioned,  with  a 
balcony;  the  joists  between  the  two  stories  project  a  couple  of  feet, 
long  poles  lie  across  them  parallel  to  the  walls,  the  poles  are  covered  with 
a  layer  of  cedar  bast  and,  finally,  with  dried  clay.  This  balcony  was 
used  as  a  means  of  communication  between  the  rooms  in  the  upper 
story." 

Dulce  Ruin.  A  good  example  of  a  small  cliff-dwelling 
is  situated  in  the  extreme  eastern  border  of  the  San 
Juan  watershed  about  twelve  miles  southwest  of  Dulce, 


THE   ANCIENT   PEOPLES.  35 

New  Mexico.  At  the  head  of  a  small  canyon  draining 
into  the  San  Juan  through  the  Navajo  River  is  a  cliff 
about  sixty  feet  high.  Forty  feet  from  the  base  is  a 
small  cave  facing  the  southwest  in  which  are  two  rows 
of  rooms.  The  largest  room  is  against  the  cliff  at  the 
northern  end  having  the  rock  of  the  cliff  for  its  back 
wall.  This  was  the  living  room  of  the  group  as  is 
shown  by  its  blackened  walls  and  a  fireplace  in  the 


Dulce  Ruin. 
(Photo,  by  Mrs.  Wyckoff  ) 

northern  wall  of  the  room,  a  foot  or  two  above  the  floor. 
The  smoke  from  this  fireplace  escaped  through  a  shaft 
in  the  wall  itself.  This  room  which  is  12  feet  long  and 
8  feet  wide  is  the  only  one  large  enough  for  a  person  to 
lie  extended.  South  of  this  room  is  a  jug-shaped  one 
twenty-three  inches  by  twenty-seven  inches  at  the  top 
but  opening  out  considerably  toward  the  bottom. 


36  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

This  was  probably  used  as  a  cistern  since  it  is  plastered 
inside  and  may  original^  have  been  water-tight.  In 
front  of  these  rooms  are  four  smaller  ones  the  outer 
walls  of  which  rested  upon  small  aspen  poles  and  a 
cedar  log  so  placed  as  to  overcome  the  slope  of  the  cave 
floor.  These  poles  are  still  sound  with  their  bark  intact . 
The  back  wall  of  the  front  row  of  rooms  shows  where 
ceiling  joists  once  rested  providing  a  roof  six  feet  high. 
There  were  two  other  rooms  at  the  southern  end  not  in 
line  with  the  first  four.  These  smaller  rooms  were 
evidently  used  for  storage  and  they  still  contain  many 
corn  cobs.  At  the  base  of  the  cliff  was  formerly  the 
ruin  of  a  single  room  in  which  a  burial  had  taken  place. 
This  structure  furnished  an  excellent  storage  place 
difficult  to  find  and  easily  defended. 

Pueblo  Bonito.  In  Chaco  Canyon  stands  a  typical 
unprotected  ruin  of  a  large  community  house  known 
as  Pueblo  Bonito.  It  is  close  to  the  wall  of  the  canyon, 
roughly  semicircular  in  shape,  with  five  rows  of  rooms 
on  the  ground,  and  was  originally  four  or  five  stories 
high.  Across  the  front  was  a  double  row  of  rooms  one 
story  high  which  enclosed  a  large  court,  in  which  were 
twenty  or  more  kivas.  The  entire  length  of  the  struc 
ture  was  667  feet  and  its  width  315  feet  and  it  contained 
more  than  500  rooms.  The  masonry  of  the  walls  varies 
in  character,  that  of  the  first  story  being  composed  of 
onedium-sized  hewn  stones  and  the  upper  stories  of 
small  flat  stones  faced  to  form  the  outer  surface.  Many 
sticks  of  timber  are  included  in  the  walls  to  strengthen 
them.  This  ruin  was  excavated  by  the  Hyde  Expedi- 


38 


INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


tion  of  the  American  Museum  in  1895-1900  and  many 
remarkable  specimens  were  recovered. 

Cavate  Lodges.  Along  the  Rio  Grande  and  Rio  Verde 
are  the  simplest  possible  dwellings,  those  excavated  in 
the  soft  rock  walls  of  the  canyons.  It  is  along  the  Rio 


Groundplan  and  Elevation,   Cavate  Lodge,   Rio  Verde  Valley. 

(After  Cosmos  Mindeleff.) 


THE   ANCIENT    PEOPLES.  39 

Verde  that  the  most  elaborate  of  these  excavations  are 
found.  A  round  opening  was  made  in  the  face  of  the 
cliff  for  the  door  and  sufficient  rock  excavated  to  make 
a  good-sized  living  room  twelve  feet  or  more  in  its 
dimensions  and  high  enough  for  one  to  stand.  Behind 
this  were  storerooms  usually  of  less  size  and  height. 
There  are  hundreds  of  such  rooms  in  the  canyon  walls. 
Natural  Caves.  A  curious  series  of  natural  caves  near 
the  headwaters  of  White  River  in  eastern  Arizona  has 
some  time  been  inhabited.  These  caves  vary  in  size 
and  open  into  each  other  by  low  and  narrow  passage 
ways  which  are  also  often  steep  since  there  is  consider 
able  change  in  level.  In  some  places  the  rock  may  have 
been  excavated  and  there  are  a  few  masonry  walls 
subdividing  the  larger  rooms.  The  walls  are  black 
with  smoke  and  the  floors  are  covered  with  dirt  which 
rises  in  dust  since  it  is  almost  completely  without 
moisture.  Several  of  these  natural  rooms  have  small 
openings  in  the  face  of  the  cliff  which  admit  air  and 
light. 

MEANS  OF  SUSTENANCE. 

That  the  ancient  people  were  agriculturists  we  know 
from  the  corn  and  beans  found  in  the  ruins.  In  the 
Museum  collections  are  specimens  of  corn  in  the  ear,  a 
basket  of  shelled  corn,  and  a  bag  of  corn  meal.  Beans 
are  also  found  and  squash  and  gourds  are  known  to 
have  been  raised. 

We  know  little  of  their  method  of  tilling  the  land. 


40  INDIANS    OF    THE    SOUTHWEST. 

Their  tools  must  have  been  rude,  probably  of  wood, 
with  which  the  ground  was  dug  before  and  after  the 
seed  was  planted.  In  much  of  the  territory  occupied 
near  the  sources  of  the  streams,  the  valley  lands  were 
kept  moist  by  the  underflow  and  did  not  require  irriga 
tion.  At  the  elevation  at  which  these  streams  leave 
the  mountains  there  is  considerable  rain  hi  late  sum 
mer,  enough  to  mature  corn  even  on  the  upland  mesas. 
Reservoirs  are  found  near  man}'  of  these  mesa  pueblos 
which  received  the  water  from  the  mountain  gulches 
and  retained  it  for  household  purposes.  In  some  cases 
the  water  thus  impounded  was  used  to  irrigate  the  land. 
Xear  Solornonville  on  the  upper  portion  of  the  Gila 
River  the_ gardens  _were  arranged  in  terraces  on-the 
sides  and  at  the  bases  of  mesas,  and  were  watered  from 
reservoirs  which  retained  the  water  falling  above. 

Irrigation.  It  is  along  the  middle  and  lower  courses 
of  the  Salt^  and.  Gila  Rivers  that  evidences  are  found  of 
irrigation  practised  on  a  large  scale.  The  Hemenway 
Archaeological  Expedition,  hi  1887—1888,  explored  Los 
Muertos,  a  veritable  city  with  thirty-six  large  com 
munal  structures,  nine  miles  southeast  of  Tempe, 
Arizona.  This  city,  nine  miles  from  the  Salt  River, 
was  supplied  with  water  by  a  large  canal  7  ft  deep, 
4  ft.  wide  at  the  bottom,  and  30  ft.  wide  at  the  top. 
Thejwalls  and  the  bottom  of  the  canal  were  very  hard 
as  if  they  had  been  plastered  with  adobe  clay  after  jjie 
soil  had  been  thoroughly  packed  by  tramping.  It  was 
suggested  by  the  investigators  that  fires  had  been  built 
in  the  canals  and  the  clav  baked  bv  this  means.  Manv 


THE    ANCIENT    PEOPLES.  41 

side  canals  were  provided  for  the  distribution  of  the 
water  over  the  fields.  The  posts  of  the  gates  for  regu 
lating  the  flow  were  found  at  the  heads  of  these  laterals. 
Mr.  Hodge,  who  reported  these  excavations,  estimates 
that  similar  canals  provided  for  the  irrigation  of  at 
least  200,000  acres,  about  half  of  the  land  in  the  valley 
available  for  such  uses. 

Hunting.  The  large  number  of  bones  of  game 
animals  found  in  the  houses  and  refuse  heaps  indicates 
that  hunting  was  not  neglected.  The  weapons  proba 
bly  employed  were  the  bow  and  arrows,  spears,  and 
possibly  clubs.  The  numerous  pieces  of  large  rope 
clearly  show  they  had  the  means  at  hand  for  snares  as 

well. 

i 

MANUFACTURED  OBJECTS. 

Pottery.  The  prehistoric  pottery  of  the  Southwest 
is  of  excellent  quality  and  unusually  beautiful  in  its 
decoration.  It  bears  evidence  of  being  made  by  coiling. 
The  succeeding  rounds  of  clay  are  made  to  adhere  to 
the  preceding  ones  by  pressure  with  the  fingers  and 
then  are  either  left  rough,  or  smoothed  down  and  pol 
ished  so  as  to  completely  obliterate  the  individual  coils. 

The  larger  cookingjDpts  _are_of t en  undecor at ed .  In 
some  of  them  the  unsmoothed  coils  and  the  marks  of 
the_fingers  in  pressing  the  coils  together  produced 
decorative  effects  but  that  the  result  was  intentional 
is  not  clear.  On  many  of  them,  however,  indentations 
are  applied  in  a  symmetrical  way  or  so  as  to  produce 
simple  patterns. 


42 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


A  red  ware  decorated  with  black  painted  designs  is 
found  in  Galisteo  Basin,  along  the  Little  Colorado 
River  and  southward  to  the  Mexican  line  in  consider 
able  abundance.  On  the  Little  Colorado,  and  so  far  no 
where  else,  have  been  found  pots  with  a  white  slip  on 
which  designs  have  been  painted  in  both  black  and  red. 
There  are  also  specimens  painted  in  dark  green. 

The  prevailing  type  of  decorated  pottery  has  a  white 
or  grayish  slip  on  which  decorations  are  painted  in 


Prehistoric  Coiled  Ware. 

black.  Ware  of  this  character  abounds  along  the  north 
ern  tributaries  of  the  San  Juan,  in  Chaco  Canyon,  in 
the  Rio  Verde  Valley,  and  reached  perhaps  the  best 
development  on  the  San  Francisco  River  and  its 
tributaries  at  the  head  of  the  Gila.  From  the  latter 
region  a  very  remarkable  series  of  pots  was  taken  by 
Henry  Hales  in  1892  and  1893.  The  American  Mu 
seum  possesses  a  large  number  of  these  pieces  secured 
by  purchase  or  gift  at  various  times.  At  Pueblo 


THE    ANCIENT    PEOPLES. 


43 


Bonito  173  pots  were  found  in  a  single  room,  nearly  all 
of  them  being  cylindrical  in  shape. 

The  forms  of  the  pots  are  of  interest.     Those  of  the 
black  ware  are  usually  bowl-shaped  or  cylindrical  in 


Tularosa  Pottery. 

form  while  the  gray  and  black  ware  occurs  in  the  shape 
of  mugs  with  handles,  in  a  variety  of  bowl  shapes  and 
molded  in  the  forms  of  animals  and  birds.  Some  of 
these  show  a  considerable  knowledge  of  anatomy  and  a 
high  degree  of  skill  in  modeling. 


44 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


The  designs  JOB,  the  ancient  pottery  of  the  Southwest 
are  largely  geometric  and  purely  decorative.  Straight 
lines  and  acute  angles  often  combined  into  intricate 
patterns  predominate,  but  graceful  curves  and  spirals 


Pueblo  Bonito  Pottery. 


Prehistoric  Pottery.     Lower  Gila  River. 
(Courtesy  of  Peabody  Museum.) 

are  also  common.  Several  of  the  cylindrical  pots  from 
Pueblo  Bonito  are  evidently  intended  to  represent  ears 
of  corn,  the  kernels  being  figured  in  rows  of  black 


THE    ANCIENT    PEOPLES.  45 

•squares.  A  small  bowl  from  Tularosa  has  the  feet  of  a 
child  represented  on  the  bottom.  The  red  and  black 
pottery  of  the  Little  Colorado  often  has  animal  forms 
either  slightly  or  highly  conventionalized. 

Pottery  vessels  and  fragments  have  been  found  in 
ruins  undoubtedly  prehistoric  that  show  clear  evidence 
of  having  been  treated  before  burning  in  a  way  to  pro- 
•  duce  a  vitreous  glaze.  This  may  have  resulted  from 
an  application  of  the  salt  found  along  the  streams  where 
it  had  been  deposited  by  evaporation. 

It  is  expected  that  by  a  minute  and  careful  study 
of  the  designs  upon  the  pots  and  potsherds  in  the  South 
west,  definite  cultural  subdivisions  of  the  area  may 
some  time  be  made  and  possibly  earlier  and  later 
occupations  of  the  same  region  may  be  determined. 

Baskets.  Fragments  of  baskets  have  been  found  in 
many  of  the  ruins  and  it  would  appear  that  they  were 
made  over  the  entire  area.  The  common  type  is  of 
diagonal  plaiting  with  a  heavy  wooden  rim  for  a  border. 
The  material  used  was  chiefly  wide  strips  of  yucca 
leaves  and  there  were  no  attempts  at  decoration.  The 
northwest  portion  of  the  area,  however,  seems  quite 
exceptional  in  the  number,  variety,  and  excellence  of  the 
specimens  recovered.  The  collections  in  the  Museum 
were  taken  from  Grand  Gulch  and  Cottonwood  Creek, 
Utah.  The  majority  of  the  specimens  were  found  with 
burials  either  in  caves  devoted  to  that  purpose  or  under 
the  floors  of  dwellings  built  in  caves. 

These  baskets  are  coiled  with  a  single  rod  founda 
tion,  a  peeled  twig  probably  willow  or  sumach.  The 


46 


INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


sewing  material  is  apparently  the  outer  portion  of  such 
twigs  obtained  by  splitting  them  and  removing  the 
inner  portion.  In  shape,  the  baskets  are  broad  and 
shallow,  only  a  few  deep  bowls  having  been  found. 


Types  of  Prehistoric  Sandals. 

Large  baskets  with  flaring  sides,  sometimes   conical, 
were  found  inverted  over  bodies.  •»  ** 

They  were  decorated  by  the  use  of  sewing  material 
dyed  black  and  red  or  brown.     The  former  color  is 


THE   ANCIENT    PEOPLES. 


47 


fast  but  the  latter  has  faded  somewhat.  JVhile  the 
designs  are  usually  geometric,  a  few  of  them  are  realistic. 
One  openwork  specimen  is  interesting;  its  foundation 


Yucca  Fiber  Bag.     Grand  Gulch. 


48 


INDIANS   OF  THE    SOUTHWEST. 


is  coiled  but  the  woof  is  twined  with  two  strands  crossed 
between  each  coil  of  the  foundation  leaving  considerable 
spaces  between  both  the  warp  and  the  woof. 

Sandals.  The  sandals,  of  which  there  is  a  long  series 
in  the  Museum  collection,  show  great  variety  in  the 
methods  employed  in  making  them  and  in  their  orna 
mentation.  The  simpler  ones  are  diagonally  plaited 
with  broad  strips  of  yucca  leaves.  .Others  are  twined 
with  twQLstrands  and  usually  have  the  lower  side  thick- 


Prehistoric  Cotton  Kilt.    Grand  Gulch,  Utah. 

ened  and  cushioned  by  imbrication  or  the  attachment 
of  additional  material  in  the  form  of  numerous  loops 
orjrows  of  twine.  The  warp  is  usually  of  coarse  stiff 
fibers,  probably  derived  from  yucca  leaves,  but  the  woof 
appears  to  be  of  cotton.  Ihejiesigns  in  red  and  black 
are  usually  arranged  in  horizontal  stripes  and  bands. 


THE    ANCIENT    PEOPLES.  49 

Cordage .  There  are  many  examples  of  rope  and  twine 
usually  composed  _ of  _two_twis t ed  _  strands .  Aprons 
consist  of  bunches  of  such_twine  gathered  at  the  waist 
where_they  were  attached  by  a  string  or  girdle  and  left 
loose  and  flowing  at  the  lower  end.  Such  twine  was 
also  made  into^openwork  nets,  into  the  twists  of  which 
the  quills  of  feathers  were  caught  making  a  feather 
blanket,  probably  of  the  kind  which  were  still  being 
worn  in  the  Southwest  in  Coronado's  time.  There  are 
many  specimens  of  twine  made  of  human  hair. 

Bags  and  Cloth.  There  are  a  number  of  bags  in  the 
collection,  several  of  them  being  in  nearly  perfect  condi 
tion.  They  are  made  without  seams  by  twining  with 
two  strands  of  yucca  fiber  thread.  The  warp  is  of  the 
same  material  resulting  in  a  pliable  and  originally  a  very 
durable  bag.  The  decorations  jire  in  the  form  of 
horizontal  bands;  one  of  the  bags  has  a  red  stripe  be 
tween  two  black  ones,  repeated  four  times  with  wide  un- 
decorated  spaces  between.  Another  has  alternating  red 
and  gray  bands  each  of  which  is  composed  of  alternate 
stitches  of  colored  and  uncolored  material  to  which  a 
border  composed  of  small  rectangles  is  added.  Both 
the  rectangles  and  the  speckled  appearance  of  the 
bands  are  produced  by  using  one  colored  strand  and  one 
uncolored  one  so  that  they  appear  alternately  on  either 
side.  One  of  the  best  preserved  specimens  was  found 
full  of  corn  meal.  It  has  a  long  fringe  around  the  top 
produced  by  allowing  the  ends  of  the  warp  strands  to 
extend  for  a  considerable  distance.  Such  bags  were 
probably  made  largely  without  the  aid  of  mechanical 


50 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


DO 


ul 


CO 


Ig 
II 

•gl 

i* 
g-s 

fi-S 


THE   ANCIENT   PEOPLES. 


51 


devices  in  the  manner  in  which  baskets  are  twined. 
A  small  bag  has  the  ordinary  looped  and  twisted  crochet 
stitcK7~~ 

There  are  many  fragments  of  woven  cotton  cloth 
which  were  without  doubt  made  on  some  sort  of  a  loom. 
The  most  interesting  piece  is  a  small  robe  or  kilt  found 
wrapped  around  a  body.  The  weaving  is  diagonal, 


Objects  of  Wood  and  Bone,  a,  Arrow;  b,  Sinew-wrapped  End  of 
Bow;  c,  Flint-pointed  Drill;  d-e,  Firedrill;  /,  Wooden  Awl;  g,  Bone 
Awl. 

producing  raised  patterns  which  are  further  accentuated 
by  the  use  of  black,  red,  and  yellow  dye.  This  is 
probably  the  finest  piece  of  textile  work  known  from  the 
Southwest. 

The  implements  used  in  the  preparation  of  the  cotton 
and  in  weaving  it  are  well  represented.  There  are 


52 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


tj£ks, joined  in  a  handle 
which  may  have  been  used  in  beating  the  cotton. 
Spindles  with  wooden  cylinders  and  balls  to  give  mo 
mentum  have  been  found.  There  are  also  wooden  forks 
and  long  batten  sticks,  similar  to  those  used  at  the  pres- 


Flaked  Stones. 

ent  time  in  the  Southwest  to  press  the  woof  strands 
firmly  into  place.  The  many  wooden  and  bone  awls 
were  probably  used  in  the  manufacture  of  baskets  and 
sandals. 

While  the  specimens  recovered  from  the  northwestern 
portion  of  the  area  indicate  a  great  variety  and  perfec- 


THE    ANCIENT    PEOPLES.  53 

tion  in  textile  art,  there  are  many  examples  of  cotton 
and  yucca  fiber  textiles  from  all  parts  of  the  area. 

Metates.  The  grinding  stones  employed  were  metates 
of  the  same  sort  now  used  in  the  Southwest  and  found 
in  the  southern  portion  of  California,  in  Mexico,  and 
Central  America,  and  generally  in  South  America. 
The  bottom  stone  is  a  slab  roughened  by  pecking  and 
often  ground  down  in  the  middle  so  that  it  has  a  raised 
border  on  either  side.  For  use,  it  has  the  front  end 
raised  making  an  angle  of  about  30  degrees  from  the 


Prehistoric  Stone  Metate  and  Bowl. 

floor.  The  upper  stone  is  usually  a  rectangular  prism 
which  is  grasped  by  both  ends  with  the  hands  of  a  kneel 
ing  woman  and  rubbed  up  and  down  over  the  bottom 
stone. 

The  axes  and  pestles,  made  by  pecking  and  grinding 
selected  stones,  are  gracefully  shaped  and  excellently 
made.  The  usual  method  of  attaching  a  handle  to  the 
ax  was  to  wrap  stout  withes  around  it  in  the  one  or 
more  grooves  provided. 


54 


INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


The  flaked  objects  of  jasper  and  flint  show  excellent 
workmanship  and  many  of  them  are  very  pleasing  in 
outline.  There  are  many  arrow-heads  and  drill  points 
:and  a  few  large  pieces  which  were  evidently  used  on 
spears.  Some  of  the  arrows  are  of  reeds  with  fore- 
shafts  while  others  have  simple  shafts.  The  drills 
are  also  simple  and  arrow-like.  The  fire-making  appa- 


Stone  Axes  and  Hammers. 

ratus  is  represented  by  several  large  fragments  of  the 
hearth  or  bottom  piece  and  drills  some  of  which  are 
compound  like  a  fore-shafted  arrow. 

Turquoise.  The  wonderful  deposits  of  turquoise 
obtained  at  Pueblo  Bonito  by  the  Hyde  Expedition  il 
lustrate  both  the  ability  and  the  esthetic  taste  of 
these  early  inhabitants  of  the  Southwest.  There  are 


THE   ANCIENT    PEOPLES. 


55 


thousands  _of  disc-shaped  perforated  turquoise  beads, 
rectangular  pieces  which  seem  to  have  been  fastened  to 
the  clothing,  splendidly  carved  birds  and  insects,  and 
remarkable  mosaics.  As  examples  of  the  latter  may 
be  mentioned  a  cylinder  the  core  of  which  had  disinte 
grated  greatly  but  with  the  mosaic  covering  still  in 
position,  a  bone  scraper  with  an  inlaid  band,  and  a  frog 
of  jet  with  an  inlaid  turquoise  necklace  and  eyes. 


Polished  Stone  Chisels. 

At  Pueblo  Bonito  were  also  found  several  flageo 
lets^  some  of  them  decorated  with  painted  designs, 
and  one  or  two  with  carved  figures  of  birds.  From 
Grand  Gulch  there  is  a  rattle  of  small  hoofs  of  deer  or 
antelope  and  dice  together  with  a  cup  from  which  they 
may  have  been  thrown. 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  prehistoric 
peoples  of  the  Southwest  knew  how  to  secure  and  make 


56 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


use  of  the  copper  which  is  abundant  in  that  region. 
A  few  pieces  of  copper  in  the  form  of  bells  and  ornaments 
were  found  at  Pueblo  Bonito  but  it  is  more  than  likely 
they  were  brought  from  Mexico  in  trade.  Some 
remarkable  pieces  of  pottery  with  a  textile  backing 
and  examples  of  cloisonne  work  are  believed  to  have 
reached  Pueblo  Bonito  in  the  same  manner. 


DISPOSAL  OF  DEAD. 

The  dead  were  variously  disposed  of.  In  the  north 
west  along  Grand  Gulch  and  Cottonwood  Creek  they 
were  buried  in  caves  and  under  the  floors  of  houses. 


Prehistoric  Rattle  and  Flageolet. 

In  the  Mesa  Verde  region  cremation  seems  to  have  been 
generally  practised.  In  the  Pajarito  Plateau,  the 
bodies  of  children  were  sometimes  placed  in  a  house 


THE    ANCIENT    PEOPLES.  57 

wall  and  enclosed  with  masonry  but  adults  were  buried 
in  cemeteries.  Burial  under  the  floors  was  practised 
in  Galisteo  Basin  and  on  the  upper  Gila  but  lower  on 
that  stream  cremation  and  urn  burial  of  the  ashes  as 
well  as  house  burial  was  the  custom  followed. 


RELIGION. 

We  know  little  of  the  religious  practices  in  prehistoric 
times.  There  are  many  objects  which  may  with 
reason  be  supposed  to  have  been  ceremonial  in  their 
use.-  In  the  Rio  Grande  region  are  found  large  stone 
images  that  have  long  been  supposed  to  be  idols.  Mr. 
N.  C.  Nelson,  while  excavating  Pueblo  Largo  ruin  in 
Galisteo  Valley,  found  a  stone  image  before  which  on  a 
raised  adobe  platform  were  several  pottery  vessels  and 
queer-shaped  stones.  These  objects  and  their  arrange 
ment  certainly  present  an  early  type  of  the  altar  still 
in  use  among  the  Pueblo  Indians. 


CHAPTER  II. 
MODERN  PUEBLOS. 

EXPLORATION. 

IN  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  suc 
cessors  of  Cortes  were  extending  the  rule  of  Spain 
beyond  the  Valley  of  Mexico.  Antonio  de  Mendoza 
was  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  and  Nuno  de  Guzman  had 
explored  the  Gulf  of  California  and  organized  its  eastern 
shore  into  the  province  of  New  Galicia.  Narvaez  with 
a  considerable  company  had  sailed  from  Cuba  with  the 
purpose  of  taking  possession  of  the  region  about  the 
mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande.  The  party  was  landed 
much  too  far  east  but  painfully  made  their  way  west 
ward,  finally  building  small  vessels  in  which  they 
attempted  in  vain  to  sail  to  their  destination. 

^Cabeza^e  Vaca.  Eight  years  later,  in  1536,  Cabeza — - 
de  Vaca,  the  treasurer  of  this  ill-fated  expedition, 
accompanied  by  two  Spaniards  and  a  negro  named 
Estevan,  arrived  in  New  Galicia  on  foot  having  crossed 
Texas  and  Northern  Mexico.  They  had  heard  of 
great  "cows"  on  which  the  natives  of  the  vast  plains 
lived  and  also  of  seven  wonderful  cities  of  great  wealth. 

58 


MODERN   PUEBLOS.  59 

Now,  the  ancient  Mexicans  had  a  myth  which  told  of 
their  origin  in  the  north  where  there  were  seven  caves 
or  canyons  from  which  they  believed  they  had  migrated. 
Furthermore,  it  was  an  adventurous  age  and  men  were 
looking  for  new  lands  where  there  was  gold  ready  mined, 
and  men  to  kill  or  to  convert,  as  occasion  demanded. 

Matrox  dc  Xi'za.  To  investigate  this  report  of  seven 
cities  to  the  north,  Marcos  de  Niza  was  sent  with  a 
small  escort  and  the  negro,  Estevan,  as  a  guide.  As 
they  went  toward  the  north  they  continually  heard  of 
the  great  and  rich  cities;  but  great  and  rich  and  cities 
meant  one  thing  to  Europeans  acquainted  with  Mexico 
and  Peru  and  another  thing  to  the  ignorant  natives. 

When  they  reached  Vacapa,  in  central  Sonora, 
Estevan  was  told  to  go  in  advance  and  discover  the  best 
route.  He  was  ordered  to  send  back  word  of  what  he 
might  find  and  not  to  proceed  more  than  fifty  or  sixty 
leagues.  Estevan  sent  back  messengers  but  hurried 
on  himself  and  after  some  days  of  delay  the  friar  fol 
lowed.  A  month  later  when  he  had  reached  the 
mountainous  country  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Salt 
River  one  of  the  men  who  had  been  with  the  negro 
met  him  and  told  him  that  they  had  reached  the 
sought  seven  cities  but  that  the  natives  had  killed 
Estevan.  Friar  Marcos  went  on  until  he  could  see 
buildings  in  the  distance  and  was  then  forced  to  return 
by  his  unwilling  followers. 

Coronado.  The  report  which  he  brought  back  was 
sufficiently  glowing  to  bring  about  an  expedition  the 
next  year  by  Francisco  Vazquez  Coronado  who  had 


60  INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

been  the  governor  of  New  Galicia.  Hernando  de 
Alvarado  was  his  chief  lieutenant.  The  advance  guard 
arrived  at  Cibola,  supposed  with  good  reasons  to  be 
the  former  villages  of  the  Zuni,  on  July  7,  1540.  After 
some  fighting  during  which  Coronado  was  wounded 
the  Indians  took  refuge  on  Thunder  Mountain,  leaving 
their  villages  to  the  Spaniards.  Hearing  a  report  of 
seven  other  cities  to  the  northwest,  Don  Pedro  de  Tovar 
was  sent  to  investigate.  He  visited  the  Hopi  villages 
known  to  the  Spaniards  as  Tusayan  and  returned, 
bringing  an  account  of  the  villages  and  a  report  of  a 
great  river  with  an  uncrossable  canyon  to  the  west. 

Alvarado,  the  second  in  command,  was  sent  with  a 
few  men  to  explore  toward  the  east.  He  passed  the 
village  of  Acoma,  perched  on  its  high  mesa,  and  arrived 
at  the  Rio  Grande  probably  near  Bernalillo  where  there 
were  villages  similar  to  those  of  Cibola.  Coronado 
joined  him  here  with  the  main  army  and  passed  the 
winter  in  one  of  the  villages.  The  natives,  at  first 
friendly,  were  offended  by  the  constant  demands  for 
food  and  clothing  and  by  the  ill-treatment  of  their 
women  and  drove  off  the  horses  and  mules  of  the  Span 
iards.  The  village  involved  was  attacked  and  some  of 
the  men  surrendered.  The  officer  in  charge  prepared 
two  hundred  stakes  for  these  prisoners  but  when  the 
Indians  saw  they  were  to  be  roasted  alive  they  seized 
the  stakes  and  renewed  the  fight  with  the  result  that 
they  all  died  more  agreeable  deaths.  During  the 
winter,  the  Rio  Grande  was  explored  to  the  north  and 
south  and  the  various  pueblos  described  A  captive 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  61 

from  the  Plains  Indians,  called  by  the  Spaniards  the 
Turk,  told  of  a  still  more  wonderful  country,  Quivira. 
In  the  spring  a  division  of  the  army  started  to  visit 
this  country  with  Turk  as  a  guide.  They  soon  came  to 
open  country  where  there  were  vast  herds  of  buffalo 
and  Indians  following  them  with  skin  tents  and  dogs 
that  transported  their  property.  After  weeks  of  travel 
Turk  was  discredited  and  another  Indian  led  them  to 
some  unimportant  villages  of  agricultural  Indians.  The 
distances  and  directions  would  have  brought  them  to 
the  neighborhood  of  eastern  Kansas.  The  Indians 
may  have  been  Pawnee  or  Omaha. 

After  a  stay  of  twenty-five  days  they  returned  to  the 
Rio  Grande  where  they  spent  the  winter.  Coronado 
fell  from  his  horse  and  was  seriously  hurt.  A  council 
decided  upon  an  immediate  return  to  Mexico  and  all 
went  gladly  except  two  monks  who  chose  to  remain 
behind  and  preach  but  who  perished  at  the  hands  of 
the  natives.  The  expectations  of  those  who  had  organ 
ized  the  expedition  had  been  great.  They  had  been 
looking  for  another  Mexico  or  Peru  with  great  cities 
and  great  wealth.  Nothing  seemed  to  have  resulted 
from  the  expedition  worth  the  labor  and  expense  in 
volved. 

THE  CONQUEST. 

It_was  forty  years  later,  in  1580,  that  Francisco 
Sanchez  Chamuscado  accompanied  three  Franciscan 
missionaries  up  the  Rio  Grande  to  New  Mexico  and  left 


62  INDIANS   OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 

them  to  begin  the  christianizing  of  the  Indians,  but 
during  the  following  winter  all  three  were  killed.  When 
their  fate  was  known  in  Mexico,  Antonio  de  Espejo, 
with  fourteen  Spaniards  visited  the  principal  pueblos. 
The  interest  created  by  his  report  resulted  .in  allowing 
Juan  de  Ofiate  to  colonize  the  country.  He  came  in 
1598  with  130  white  men  and  many  Indians,  visited  the 
important  pueblos,  received  their  submission,  and  es 
tablished  a  capital  and  built  the  church  San  Gabriel 
at  Chamita,  where  the  Chama  flows  into  the  Rio 
Grande.  Ofiate  continued  as  governor  until  1608. 
By  1630  most  of  the  pueblos  were  provided  with 
churches  and  missionaries. 


THE  REBELLION. 

The  natives  who  were  made  vassals  of  the  King  of 
Spain,  were  probably  forced  to  work  the  mines  which 
had  been  discovered.  The  priests  were  eager  to  estab 
lish  their  religion  and  forced  it  upon  the  Indians,  at 
the  same  time  repressing  the  native  beliefs  and  practices. 
These  two  causes  produced  a  feeling  of  resentment 
which  finally  resulted  in  rebellion  in  1680.  The  heads 
of  the  pueblos  communicated  with  each  other  and 
appointed  a  day  on  which  all  the  white  people  should 
be  killed.  One  of  the  inhabitants  of  San  Juan  was 
kindly  disposed  toward  the  rulers  and  priests  and  gave 
them  warning.  But  this  only  resulted  in  an  immediate 
attack  in  which  the  priests  in  all  the  nearby  villages 


MODERN   PUEBLOS.  63 

were  killed.  Word  was  sent  to  the  other  villages 
of  the  miscarriage  of  the  plot  and  the  priests  and  Span 
iards  living  in  them  were  killed.  Governor  Otermin, 
after  several  days  of  unsuccessful  fighting  about  Santa 
Fe,  which  had  become  the  capital,  fled  with  many  of 
the  Spanish  inhabitants  to  El  Paso.  He  returned  the 
next  year,  succeeded  in  capturing  Isleta,  but  failed  to 
reestablish  his  rule. 

Diego  de  Vargas,  having  been  appointed  governor, 
conducted  a  vigorous  war  from  1692  until  1696  during 
which  he  tried  in  vain  to  take  the  Black  Mesa  near 
Espanola  upon  which  the  inhabitants  of  San  Ildefonso 
had  established  themselves,  but  succeeded  in  capturing 
Old  Cochiti  in  a  night  attack.  After  the  warriors,  most 
of  whom  had  escaped,  by  a  counter  attack  had  released 
half  of  the  340  women  and  children  held  as  prisoners, 
Vargas  burned  the  village  and  took  the  stored  corn  to 
Santa  Fe.  In  the  end  peace  was  established  but  the 
Indians  were  not  again  forced  to  work  the  mines  and 
the  priests  were  more  tolerant  toward  the  native 
religious  practices  and  less  insistent  upon  anything 
but  a  nominal  acceptance  of  Christianity. 


DISTRIBUTION  IN  1540. 

If  we  assume  that  all  the  inhabited  pueblos,  with  one 
exception  mentioned  below,  were  seen  by  members  of 
Coronado's  party,  it  appears  that  there  had  already 
been  a  considerable  shrinkage  in  the  pueblo  area. 


64  INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

They  did  not  hear  of  villages  anywhere  on  the  San  Juan 
or  Gila  Rivers  or  their  tributaries.  With  the  Coronado 
expedition  was  a  man  interested  in  ethnology,  Pedro  de 
Castaneda,  who  has  not  only  left  a  most  readable 
narrative  of  the  journey  itself,  but  interesting  observa 
tions  concerning  the  number  and  location  of  villages 
and  the  manner  of  life  of  the  natives.  He  listed  the 
villages  and  described  them  as  located  in  the  following 
provinces :  - 

CHfold.  The  first  discovered,  had  seven  vilhijjes, 
two  of  which  have  been  identified;  Hawikuh  near  Ojo 
Caliente,  the  first  one  seen,  and  Matsaki,  the  largest 
of  the  ruins  at  the  northwest  base  of  Thunder  Moun 
tain.  One  after  another  of  these  villages  was  deserted 
until  in  1680  there  were  only  three  inhabited.  When 
the  rebellion  was  over  in  1692,  the  people  all  came 
together  in  the  village  of  Halona  which  has  since. been 
the  only  pueblo  and  is  known  as  Zuni. 

Tusayan.  The  province  of  Tusayan  also  had  seven 
villages  situated  near  the  sites  of  the  present  Hopi 
pueblos.  One  of  the  most  important  of  these,  Awatohv 
was  attacked  by  the  other  Hopi  people  in  1700  because 
it  received  a  missionary  after  the  rebellion,  and  was 
abandoned.  At  about  the  same  time  Hano  near 
Walpi,  on  the  first  mesa,  was  settled  by  Indians  who 
came  from  pueblos  on  the  Rio  Grande.  Castaneda 
estimated  the  population  of  the  two  provinces  of 
Cibola  and  Tusayan  at  between  three  and  four  thousand. 

A  coma.  The  high  mesa  with  Acoma  on  its  top, 
reached  by  difficult  trails,  is  unmistakably  described. 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  65 

The  cisterns  on  the  mesa  which  hold  the  rain  and  melted 
snow  are  mentioned.  The  population  is  given  as  two 
hundred  men. 

Tiguex.  The  province  of  Tiguex,  on  the  Rio  Grande 
near  Bernalillo,  had  twelve  villages  scattered  along  the 
valley  on  either  side  of  the  river.  None  of  these 
villages  is  now  inhabited.  Below  along  the  river  was 
the  province  of  Tutahaco  <with  eight  villages  probably 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Isleta  which  may  occupy  the 
site  of  one  of  them.  Still  further  down  the  Rio  Grande 
were  three  villages  which  may  have  been  situated  as 
far  south  as  San  Marcial  where  there  are  ruins. 
J^atinci^  East  of  the  river  were  at  least  three 
villages  not  mentioned  by  any  of  Coronado's  followers 
but  included  later  in  the  district  of  Salinas,  named  from 
the  salt  lakes  in  the  neighborhood.  These  villages  of 
Abo,  Quara,  and  Tabira,  generally  known  as  .Gran 
Quivira,  were  hard  pressed  by  the  Apache  and  appear 
to  have  been  deserted  before  1680.  In  that  year, 
when  Governor  Otermin  passed  down  the  Rio  Grande 
the  inhabitants  of  the  villages  on  the  lower  Rio  Grande, 
Socorro,  Sevilleta,  and  Alamillo,  collectively  known  as 
the  Piro,  now  few  in  number  from  the  raids  of  the 
Apache,  joined  him  and  were  established  near  El  Paso 
where  a  few  of  their  descendants  are  still  living  at 
Isleta  del  Sur. 

Quirix.  Just  north  of  Tiguex  was  the  province  of 
Quirix  with  seven  villages  probably  those  now  repre 
sented  by  Santo  Domingo,  San  Felipe,  Santa  Ana,  Sia, 
and  Coehiti,  the  location  of  many  of  which  was  changed 
during  the  rebellion. 


66  INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

Tanos.  To  the  east  of  these,_was.Ximejia;  with  three 
villages  in  JS^teoJ^alley,  deserted  at  the  time  of  the 
rebellion.  San  Cristobal  and  Galisteo,  the  largest  of 
these,  were  excavated  for  the  American  Museum 
during  the  summer  of  1912  by  Mr.  N.  C.  Nelson.  In 
the  "  snowy  mountains",  by  which  probably  the  Sandia 
Mountains  were  meant,  there  were  seven  villages  not 
referred  to  by  name  now  completely  in  ruins  and  hard 
to  identify. 

Cicuye.  On  the  Pecos  River  was  the  one  large 
pueblo  known  to  the  men  of  Coronado  by  the  name 
Cicuye.  It  was  estimated  at  that  time  to  contain  500 
fighting  men.  The  population  of  Pecos  slowly  de 
creased,  room  after  room  of  the  great  pueblo  being 
abandoned,  until  in  1838  the  handful  of  survivors 
moved  to  Jemez. 

Jemez.  This  was  originally  a  province,  given  the 
name  Hemes  by  Castafieda,  which  in-  his  time  con 
sisted  of  seven  villages  with  three  additional  ones  at 
Aguas  Calientes,  Jemez  Hot  Springs.  The  popula 
tion  was  concentrated  during  the  seventeenth  century 
until  only  two  of  these  villages  were  occupied.  After 
the  rebellion  during  which  Jemez  suffered  particularly, 
only  one  village  was  maintained. 

Tewa.  Northward  was  Yuqueyunque  by  which  prob 
ably  San  Juan  was  meant  situated  east  of  the  Rio 
Grande  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chama  and  six  villages  in  the 
mountains  which  probably  included  the  pueblos  north 
of  Santa  Fe.  Finally,  several  leagues  to  the  north  were 
the  two  pueblos  of  Picuris  and  Taos,  the  latter  called 
Braba,  both  located  nearly  as  they  stand  to-day. 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  67 

Besides  these  inhabited  villages,  others  are  men 
tioned  as  having  been  recently  destroyed  by  a  Plains 
tribe,  the  Teya,  possibly  the  Comanche. 

Castafieda  summarizes  the  Rio  Grande  region  with  a 
statement  that  these  sixty-six  villages  were  scattered 
over  a  distance  of  130  leagues  having  the  province  of 
Tiguex  near  the  middle  with  a  combined  population  of 
20,000  men. 

It  appears  that  the  area  which  ruins  show  once  to 
have  been  inhabited  by  sedentary  peoples  had  been  re 
duced  nearly  half  at  the  time  the  Spanish  first  entered 
the  country,  and  the  number  of  inhabited  villages  to 
day  is  much  smaller  than  when  Coronado  visited  them 
in  1540.  The  Pueblo  of  Pecos,  those  of  the  Galisteo 
Valley,  and  of  the  Salinas  district,  and  all  those  on  the 
Rio  Grande  south  of  Isleta  are  in  ruins. 

Nor  are  more  than  one  or  two  of  the  pueblos  situated 
exactly  as  they  were  in  1540.  Immediately  after  the 
rebelliori,  the  pueblos  in  less  easily  defended  situations 
were  deserted  and  rebuilt  in  more  secure  locations. 
The  inhabitants  of  San  Ildefonso  took^efuge  on  the  top 
of  Black  Mesa;  those  of  Cochiti  left  their  village  on  the 
slope  of  the  mesa  and  rebuilt  it  on  the  top,  where  they 
were  joined  by  refugees  from  other  pueblos.  Nearly 
all  the  Hopi  villages  were  also  moved  at  that  time  to 
mesa  tops.  The  inhabitants  of  Zufii  went  to  the  top 
of  Thunder  Mountain.  Although  some  of  the  pueblos 
were  captured  by  the  Spanish  and  certain  abandoned 
pueblos  were  burned  during  the  re-conquest,  most  of 
the  changes  in  location  seem  to  have  been  made  volun 
tarily  in  anticipation  of  Spanish  vengeance. 


68  INDIANS    OF    THE    SOUTHWEST. 


PRESENT  DISTRIBUTION. 

Rio  Grande.  The  villages  now  occupied  are  usually 
separated  into  two  groups,  the  Rio  Grande  and  the 
Hopi  Pueblos,  with  Zufii  standing  by  itself.  The  Rio 
Grande  Pueblos  are  again  divided  into  the  Tanoan 
and  Keresan,  chiefly  because  the  languages  of  the  two 
are  totally  different,  but  in  part  because  there  are  also 
minor  differences  in  culture.  The  Tanoan  group  con 
sists  of  Taos,  Picuris,  San  Juan,  Santa  Clara,  San 
Ildefonso,  Tesuque,  Pojoaque,  Nambe,  Jemez,  Sandia, 
and  Isleta.  Those  which  use  the  Keresan  language  are 
San  Felipe,  Cochiti,  Santo  Domingo,  Santa  Ana,  Sia, 
Laguna,  and  Acoma. 

Hopi.  The  Hopi  villages  are  geographically  sepa 
rated  into  the  first  or  eastern  mesa  on  which  stand 
Walpi,  Sichumovi,  and  Hano;  the  second  or  middle 
mesa  with  Shipaulovi,  Mishongnovi,  Shumopovi;  and 
on  the  third  mesa,  Oraibi,  the  largest  of  all. 

Quite  recently  the  conservative  party  of  Oraibi,  who 
wish  to  live  as  they  formerly  did,  has  withdrawn  and 
built  a  new  village  a  few  miles  away  on  the  same 
mesa.  Forty  miles  westward  is  the  summer  village  of 
Moenkapi  situated  where  conditions  are  favorable 
to  agriculture.  The  language  of  the  Hopi  proper  is 
Shoshonean  connected  with  Ute  and  Comanche.  One 
of  the  villages,  however,  Hano,  still  has  its  Tew  an 
dialect  maintained  since  the  migration  from  the  Rio 
Grande  early  in  the  eighteenth  century. 


Pueblo  of  Walpi. 
(Paoto.  by  Howard  McCormick.) 


Pueblo  of  Zufii. 
(Copyrighted  by  Fred  Harvey.) 


70  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

Zuni.  The  Pueblo  of  Zuni,  which  by  itself  is  the 
descendant  of  the  seven  cities  of  Cibola,  has  three 
outlying  farming  villages,  Pescado,  Nutria,  and  Ojo 
Calient e  which  are  fast  becoming  permanent  settle 
ments.  The  Zuni  language  is  believed  to  be  entirely 
independent  of  all  others. 


HABITATIONS. 

The  houses  of  the  sedentary  peoples  of  the  Southwest 
retain  the  two  chief  characteristics  of  those  of  the 
ancient  peoples  which  are  really  the  most  striking 


Floor  Plan  of  Hopi  Living  Room. 
(After  Cosmos  Mindeleff.) 


features  of  Southwestern  culture:  they  are  communal, 
honeycomb-like,  and  almost  without  exception  ter 
raced. 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  71 

Arrangement  of  Buildings.  The  modern  villages 
present  three  types  of  arrangement.  A  large  square 
or  rectangular  building,  terraced  back  from  all  four 
sides  results  in  a  pyramid  which  is  easily  defended. 
The  common  prehistoric  arrangement  around  an  en 
closed  court  from  which  the  upper  stories  recede  is  still 
found.  The  third  type  has  the  houses  in  long  parallel 
rows  terraced  back  from  the  streets. 

In  the  Rio  Grande  region  Taos  has  two  large  houses 
of  the  pyramidal  type  on  either  side  of  a  beautiful 
stream.  One  of  these  is. five  and  the  other  four  stories 
high.  San  Ildefonso,  Jemez,  Santa  Clara,  and  San 
Felipe  have  one  or  more  enclosed  courts.  Acoma  is  an 
excellent  example  of  the  third  sort.  It  has  three  rows 
of  three  story  houses,  terraced  back  from  the  streets. 
Santo  Domingo  and  San  Juan  have  a  similar  arrange 
ment. 

Zufii  combines  both  the  first  and  second  types  of 
arrangement.  It  is  terraced  back  from  the  outside  but 
also  has  several  courts  within,  in  one  of  which  the  old 
church  is  situated.  It  is  intersected  by  a  number  of 
covered  passageways  or  streets  leading  to  the  interior. 

It  is  at  Hopi  that  structures  more  like  those  of  pre 
historic  and  early  Spanish  times  are  found.  One  of 
the  smaller  pueblos,  Shipaulovi,  is  built  about  a  square 
court  from  which  it  is  terraced  back  and  upon  which  the 
lower  terrace  has  its  openings.  Several  of  the  other 
pueblos  show  signs  of  having  been  first  built  around  a 
court  and  then  added  to  as  the  village  grew  in  numbers 
until  there  are  now  several  courts.  Mishongnovi  has 


72  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

three  completed  ones  and  the  beginning  of  another. 
Shumopovi  has  one  well  enclosed  court  and  another 
partly  enclosed  but  the  houses  are  terraced  so  as  to  face 
the  east.  Walpi,  which  has  grown  until  it  has  nearly 
covered  all  the  available  space,  has  the  older  portion 
of  the  building  surrounding  a  court  from  which  it  was 
terraced  back.  Oraibi  is  arranged  in  long  irregular 
rows. 

Building  Material.  The  pueblos  of  the  Rio  Grande 
region  are  largely  built  of  adobe  brick,  the  art  of  making 
which  was  pretty  certainly  learned  from  the  natives 
of  Mexico  who  came  into  the  Southwest  with  Onate  and 
later.  Clay,  first  mixed  with  straw  and  water,  is 
molded  in  rectangular  forms  and  allowed  to  dry  in 
the  sun.  These  bricks  are  laid  in  regular  courses  with 
similar  material  for  mortar.  Such  walls  are  durable 
only  when  they  are  protected  from  water  by  means  of 
extended  roofs,  or  by  constant  plastering. 

Castaneda  gives  a  description  of  the  older  method 
of  preparing  adobe.  He  says  fires  were  made  of  small 
brush  and  sedge-grass  upon  which,  when  the  sticks 
were  falling  to  ashes,  water  and  clay  were  thrown. 
The  material  was  then  molded  into  balls  and  laid 
like  stone  in  courses  with  mortar  of  similar  material. 
This  masonry  work  he  tells  us  was  performed  by  the 
women  but  that  the  men  did  the  carpenter  work, 
preparing  the  timbers  and  putting  them  into  place. 
The  inner  walls  were  plastered  and  sometimes  painted 
but  he  does  not  tell  us  what  material  was  used.  At  the 
present  time  burned  gypsum  is  employed  but  this 


MODERN   PUEBLOS.  73 

method  has  probably  been  adopted  from  the  Mexicans 
who  also  make  use  of  it. 

Acoma  is  built  of  rubble  and  clay.  A  village  in  the 
same  situation  as  the  present  one  and  probably  the  one 
described  by  several  of  Coronado's  party,  was  partly 
burned  in  1599.  The  village  was  not  destroyed  during 
the  rebellion  a  century  later,  and  the  walls  now  in  use 
may  be  the  same  as  those  seen  in  1540,  repaired  and 
in  part  rebuilt  from  time  to  time. 

While  Zuni  is  built  mostly  of  adobe,  the  cornices 
frequently  have  several  courses  of  flat  stones. 

The  Hopi  houses  are  built  of  stone  poorly  dressed 
and  poorly  laid  as  compared  with  the  best  prehistoric 
masonry.  Mindeleff,  who  published  a  splendid  account 
of  Pueblo  architecture,  observed  women  building  a 
detached  house  with  the  help  of  one  man  who  lifted 
the  timbers  into  place.  While  the  men  are  said  to 
build  the  walls  sometimes,  the  women  are  always  ex 
pected  to  do  the  plastering.  The  ceilings  are  made  in 
the  prehistoric  fashion  with  ceiling  beams,  cross  poles, 
brush,  and  clay  spread  over  all  and  tramped  down. 
The  floors  are  sometimes  paved  with  large  flat  stones. 
The  walls  inside  are  generally  whitened  with  gypsum 
and  sometimes  ornamented  by  leaving  unwhitened 
bands  above  and  below.  The  fireplaces  situated  in  one 
corner  of  the  room  are  provided  with  hoods  which 
receive  the  smoke  and  communicate  with  chimneys 
which  are  generally  topped  with  a  pot  or  two  from  which 
the  bottom  has  been  broken.  In  another  corner  of  the 
room  is  generally  found  the  three-sectioned  milling 


74  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

box  with  three  grinding  stones.     The  rooms  of  the 
lower  terrace  are  mostly  used  for  storage. 

There  are  a  few  T-shaped  doorways  like  those  found 
in  prehistoric  ruins  still  to  be  seen  in  the  Hopi  houses. 
During  the  Spanish  period  windows  in  the  walls  were 
more  generally  used.  They  were  covered  with  thin 
sheets  of  selenite  which  was  the  substitute  for  glass  in 
general  use  in  the  Southwest.  Ordinary  windows  and 
hinged  doors  are  now  coming  into  common  use. 

SHELTERS. 

For  the  shelter  of  the  men  who  are  tending  the  crops 
and  as  a  camping  place  for  the  family  when  the  fields 
are  far  from  the  village,  temporary  structures  are 
built.  The  common  type  is  made  by  setting  four 
posts  at  the  corners  of  a  rectangle  so  that  their  forked 
tops  are  seven  or  eight  feet  above  the  ground.  These 
posts  support  a  platform  of  poles  and  brush  which 
casts  a  shade  and  furnishes  on  its  top  a  storage  place 
away  from  dogs  and  stray  animals.  The  Hopi  often 
cut  trees  or  brush  and  set  them  in  curved  or  straight 
lines  so  as  to  break  the  wind  and  furnish  the  desired 
shade.  The  two  forms  are  sometimes  combined  so 
that  the  space  under  the  platform  has  a  wall  of  brush 
on  one  side. 

KIVAS. 

The  modern  pueblos  with  a  few  exceptions  are  each 
provided  with  one  or  more  kivas.  In  a  general  way, 


MODERN    PUEBLOS. 


75 


they  resemble  the  prehistoric  kivas,  both  in  their 
structure  and  their  location.  Some  of  them  are  circu 
lar  and  nearly  all,  in  part  at  least,  are  underground. 
They  are  as  a  rule,  located  in  the  plaza  or  some  distance 
from  the  communal  house. 

Those  of  the  Rio  Grande  region  are  frequently  circu- 


/ 


Kiva  and  Oven.     San  Ildefonso. 
(Copyrighted  by  Fred  Harvey  ) 

lar,  the  roofs  of  some  of  them  being  level  with  the 
ground  while  others  are  built  up  to  a  considerable 
height  so  that  their  forms  are  readily  apparent  from  the 
outside.  Details  as  to  their  structure  are  not  available 
except  that  they  are  entered  through  hatchways  by 
means  of  ladders  which  project  to  a  considerable  height. 
With  the  exception  of  the  fireplace,  the  ladder,  and  the 


76  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

posts  supporting  the  two  main  roof  beams,  they  are 
said  to  be  entirely  without  furnishings.  The  Keresan 
kivas  of  which  there  are  always  two  to  a  village,  known 
as  the  summer  and  winter  kivas,  are  said  in  some 
instances  to  be  permanently  decorated  with  the  pic 
tures  of  the  animals  associated  in  mythology  and  cere 
monies  with  the  cardinal  points.  The  kivas  of  San 
Juan  and  Santa  Clara  are  rectangular  and  above  ground 
and  those  of  Jemez  and  Acoma  are  included  in  the  regu 
lar  house  structure  differing  externally  from  ordinary 
rooms  only  in  the  projection  of  ladder  tops. 

The  Hopi  frequently  place  their  kivas  on  the  side  of 
the  mesa  so  that  the  wall  of  the  kiva  on  one  side  is 
exposed  to  light  and  air  while  the  roof  is  still  kept  level 
with  the  surface  of  the  mesa.  They  are  all  rectangular, 
about  twenty-five  feet  long  and  half  as  broad.  The 
floor,  which  is  generally  paved  with  stone,  is  in  twTo 
levels.  The  higher  portion  a  foot  above  the  other 
occupies  about  one  third  the  entire  floor  space.  This 
is  reserved  for  spectators.  In  the  lower  part,  there  is  a 
fireplace,  a  mere  rectangular  pit  placed  in  the  center 
directly  under  the  hatchway;  and  at  one  end  there  is  a 
small  cavity  covered  by  a  plank  in  which  is  cut  a  hole 
furnished  with  a  close  fitting  plug.  These  represent 
the  lower  world  and  the  place  of  emergence  through 
which  the  people  and  animals  originally  came  to  this 
world,  and  through  it  the  deities  are  now  supposed  to 
come  during  the  ceremonies.  Along  the  sides  of  the 
room  are  placed  slabs  provided  with  holes  to  receive 
the  posts  of  the  looms  which  are  usually  set  up  and  used 


MODERN    PUEBLOS. 


77 


in  the  kivas.  A  stone-capped  bench  is  sometimes  pro 
vided  along  one  or  more  of  the  side  walls  for  seats.  At 
the  further  end  of  the  lower  level  a  similar  bench  about 
two  feet  high  is  used  as  a  shelf  on  which  images  are 


Floor  Plan  of  Hopi  Kiva. 
(After  Victor  Mindeleff.) 


Roof  of  Hopi  Kiva. 
(After  Victor  Mindeleff.) 


10  INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

placed  and  an  opening  in  front  holds  certain  masks  when 
they  are  not  in  use. 

The  walls  which  are  of  stone  are  kept  nicely  plastered 
by  the  women.  The  roof  is  composed  first  of  large  logs 
placed  crosswise  resting  on  the  top  of  the  two  side  walls; 
next,  by  many  smaller  poles  placed  lengthwise  which  are 
in  turn  covered  with  brush  and  well  packed  clay.  In 
the  middle  a  space  five  feet  by  seven  is  left  for  the  hatch 
way.  Masonry  walls  resting  on  the  ceiling  beams  are 
carried  up  for  a  few  feet  on  all  four  sides.  Across  the 
top  of  these  walls  are  laid  planks  leaving  an  opening 
four  and  a  half  feet  long  and  two  feet  wide.  Through 
this  hatchway  a  ladder  projects  ten  or  twelve  feet. 

The  ceremonial  rooms  at  Zuni  are  all  included  within 
the  large  structure  perhaps  to  conceal  them  from  the 
Spanish  priests  of  past  centuries.  Their  floors,  however, 
are  always  somewhat  below  the  level  of  the  earth  out 
side. 

Castaneda  and  other  early  Spanish  writers  seem  to 
have  been  amused  by  these  kivas,  estufas  (stoves)  they 
called  them.  They  are  described  as  being  situated  in 
the  yards  of  the  buildings  with  their  roofs  level  with 
the  ground.  There  were  in  that  day  both  square  and 
round  kivas.  Those  of  Taos  are  mentioned  in  particu 
lar,  one  of  which  was  said  to  have  twelve  pine  posts  of 
large  size  supporting  the  roof.  The  floors  were  paved 
with  large  smooth  stones  with  a  boxed-in  fireplace  in 
which  small  brush  was  burned  for  heat  enabling  the 
occupants  to  remain  in  them  as  in  a  bath. 

The  kivas  to-day  are  used  as  clubrooms  and  loafing 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  79 

places  as  well  as  workshops,  the  weaving  usually  being 
done  in  them.  They  are  generally  spoken  of  as  cere 
monial  chambers  and  it  is  quite  true  that  ceremonies 
are  held  in  them.  The  Hopi  kivas,  at  least,  are  con 
structed  with  certain  unmistakable  adaptations  to  cere 
monial  uses.  In  this  connection,  certain  remarks  of 
Castaneda  are  of  interest :  — 

"The  young  men  live  in  the  estufas. .  .  .The  houses  belong  to  the 
women,  the  estufas  to  the  men.  If  a  man  repudiates  his  woman  he  has 
to  go  to  the  estufa.  It  is  forbidden  for  women  to  sleep  in  the  estufas 
or  to  enter  these  for  any  purpose  except  to  give  their  husbands  or  sons 
something  to  eat."  (Winship,  520,  521.) 

These  statements  suggest  a  very  likely  explanation 
of  the  earlier  uses  of  the  kiva.  It  is  very  common  in 
the  Pacific  Islands  and  elsewhere  for  the  unmarried 
men  to  sleep  in  a  large  community  dormitory.  The 
Yurok  and  the  Hupa  men  in  northwestern  California, 
whether  married  or  single,  slept  in  such  a  structure 
throughout  the  winter  months. 


FOOD. 

The  method  of  securing  food  is  always  the  central 
fact  in  a  people's  existence  around  which  social  life, 
art,  and  religion  are  largely  built.  There  are  consider 
able  regions  in  North  America  where  agriculture  was  not 
practised.  In  the  great  plains  the  chief  dependence 
was  upon  the  buffalo,  while  on  the  North  Pacific  Coast 
the  people  lived  largely  on  fish.  The  inhabitants  of 


80 


INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


the  Plateau  area  lived  upon  wild  vegetables,  small 
game,  and  insects.  The  sedentary  peoples  of  the 
Southwest  placed  their  first  reliance  on  the  crops  which 
their  fields  produced.  These  were  in  earlier  times,  corn, 
beans,  and  squash  to  which  wheat  and  other  small 
grains  and  vegetables  have  been  added.  Hunting 
was  by  no  means  neglected  for  flesh  was  needed  to 


Hoes  and  Throwing  Stick. 

produce  a  balanced  diet.  The  wild  vegetables  in  the 
neighborhood  were  gathered  and  preserved  for  future 
use. 

Agriculture.  The  fields  of  the  Rio  Grande  peoples 
are  situated  in  the  river  bottoms  and  along  the  smaller 
streams  near  their  villages.  Irrigation  is  now  practised 
and  was  being  practised  at  many  of  the  pueblos  at 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  81 

least,  when  the  Spanish  first  entered  the  area.  There 
were  however,  no  great  difficulties  involved  and  no 
large  canals  like  the  prehistoric  ones  of  the  lower  Salt 
River  were  necessary.  The  fields  of  the  Acoma  are 
fourteen  miles  away  at  Acomita,  apparently  where 
they  were  when  Espejo  visited  them  in  1583.  He 
mentions  both  the  cornfields  two  leagues  away,  and 
the  river  from  which  he  says  they  watered  them. 

The  Hopi  fields  are  situated  near  the  mesas  wherever 
there  is  sufficient  moisture  from  some'  gulch  or  spring. 
Corn  is  planted  ten  or  twelve  inches  deep  with  a  plant 
ing  stick  which  makes  a  suitable  hole.  The  corn  is  not 
raised  in  rows,  but  in  large  clumps  of  eight  or  ten  stalks, 
at  considerable  distances  from  each  other.  While 
the  plants  are  young,  they  are  protected  from  the  wind 
and  the  drifting  sand  by  windbreaks  of  brush  or  stone. 
Irrigation  is  not  practised  except  that  vegetables  are 
sometimes  watered  by  hand.  Ditches,  however,  are 
provided  to  carry  off  the  excessive  waterfall  during 
heavy  showers. 

Because  of  the  large  population  of  Zufii  many  of 
their  fields  are  at  a  great  distance;  the  people  move  in 
large  numbers  to  the  neighborhood  of  these  fields  where 
the  farming  villages  of  Nutria,  Pescado,  and  Ojo 
Caliente  are  maintained.  Mr.  Frank  H.  Gushing  has 
described  the  old  Zuni  method  of  agriculture.  A  man 
without  land  chose  a  piece  of  ground  where  a  gulch 
opened  into  a  valley  or  on  to  the  margin  of  the  plain. 
Across  this  he  made  an  earthen  dam  which  retained 
the  water  and  mud  brought  down  during  heavy  rains. 


82  INDIANS    OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

Since  the  gulch  was  ordinarily  a  dry  one,  the  water 
did  not  stand  for  any  length  of  time  but  enough  of  it 
sank  into  the  ground  to  supply  what  moisture  was 
needed  for  a  crop  of  corn. 

Quite  contrary  to  the  usual  custom  among  the  North 
American  Indians,  the  men  till  the  fields  and  do  the 
greater  part  of  the  work  connected  with  raising  and 
harvesting  the  crops.  This  is  probably  because  in  the 
Southwest  agriculture  is  the  chief  means  of  securing 
food  while  in  other  regions  it  is  of  less  importance  than 
hunting  and  fishing  to  which  the  men  principally 
devote  themselves.  The  only  primitive  implements 
used  in  tilling  the  soil  appear  to  have  been  the  planting 


stick  and  a  knife-like  wooden  paddle  which  served  as  a 
hoe  or  shovel.  Castaneda  tells  us  the  ground  was  not 
broken  before  planting  the  seed.  He,  of  course,  greatly 
exaggerated  the  productiveness  of  the.  soil  when  he  said 
that  one  crop  was  sufficient  for  seven  years.  He 
mentions  large  quantities  of  corn  in  Galisteo  Valley 
stored  in  underground  chambers.  The  Hopi  Pueblos 
still  maintain  at  least  a  full  year's  supply  of  corn  to 
guard  against  crop  failure. 

After  the  corn  is  gathered  it  is  thoroughly  dried 
either  by  hanging  it  in  long  braids  or  by  spreading  it  in 
the  sun  on  the  roofs  of  the  buildings.  It  is  stored  in  the 
back  rooms  of  the  lower  stories  where  the  braids  are 
hung  up  and  the  loose  ears  piled  in  tiers.  The  pump 
kins  and  squashes  are  cut  in  long  strips  which  are  twisted 
together  and  hung  about  the  houses  together  with 
many  strings  of  red  peppers. 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  83 

The  Hopi  have  many  peach  orchards  but  fruit  was 
not  cultivated  when  the  Spanish  first  became  ac 
quainted  with  the  Southwest.  They  did  make  use  of 
pifion  nuts  which  are  frequently  mentioned.  That 
they  used  cherries,  wild  plums,  the  fruit  of  the  yucca, 
and  the  pods  and  beans  of  the  mesquite,  is  also  probable 
although  Castaneda  says  that  pine  nuts  were  the  only 
fruits  used  by  them. 

Preparation  of  Food.  The  method  of  grinding  corn 
has  changed  but  little  since  it  was  first  described  by 
Castaneda. 

"They  keep  the  separate  houses  where  they  prepare  the  food  for 
eating  and  where  they  grind  the  meal,  very  clean.  This  is  a  separate 
room  or  closet,  where  they  have  a  trough  with  three  stones  fixed  in  stiff 
clay.  Three  women  go  in  here,  each  one  having  a  stone,  with  which 
one  of  them  breaks  the  corn,  the  next  grinds  it,  and  the  third  grinds  it 
again.  -They  take  off  their  shoes,  do  up  their  hair,  shake  their  clothes, 
and  cover  their  heads  before  they  enter  the  door.  A  man  sits  at  the 
door  playing  on  a  fife  while  they  grind,  moving  the  stones  to  the  music 
and  singing  together.  They  grind  a  large  quantity  at  one  time,  because 
they  make  all  their  bread  of  meal  soaked  in  warm  water,  like  wafers." 
(Winship,  522.) 

The  meal  boxes  are  often  in  one  corner  of  the  living 
rooms  of  the  modern  pueblos  and  the  women  still  sing 
at  their  work  but  without  the  accompanying  flute. 
Before  grinding,  the  corn  is  often  parched  or  roasted. 

The  wafers  mentioned  probably  refer  to  piki,  the 
paper-thin  bread  made  of  corn  meal  of  various  colors 
and  rolled  into  bunches  which  keep  indefinitely.  This 
bread  is  cooked  on  thin  slabs  of  stone  or  more  recently 
on  pieces  of  sheet  iron.  Tortillas,  having  the  shape 
and  thickness  of  pancakes,  are  also  popular.  The 


84 


INDIANS    OF    THE    SOUTHWEST. 


Hopi  place  pots  of  mush  in  holes  in  the  ground  which 
have  been  heated  by  a  fire  and  cover  them  with  ashes 
and  hot  coals  until  they  are  thoroughly  cooked.  At 
Zufii  and  along  the  Rio  Grande,  the  Mexican  dome- 
shaped  ovens  are  generally  used. 

Hunting.  The  eastern  pueblos,  those  of  Taos,  Pi- 
curis,  and  Pecos  especially,  used  to  make  expeditions 
to  the  Plains,  principally  along  the  Canadian  and 
Arkansas  Rivers  to  hunt  buffalo.  Such  trips  could 
be  made  safely  only  by  a  large  number  of  men  and  with 
the  greatest  precaution  against  surprise  by  the  Plains 
tribes.  They  were  under  the  control  of  the  war  chief 
as  were  all  communal  hunts.  The  communal  hunting 
of  antelope,  deer,  and  elk,  because  of  their  scarcity 
has  not  been  practised  in  recent  years,  but  such  hunts 
for  rabbits  are  still  maintained.  The  men  and  boys 
surround  a  large  tract  of  suitable  land,  drive  the 
rabbits  toward  the  center  and  then  kill  them  with  bows 
and  arrows  and  with  throwing  sticks.  These  clubs 
resemble  in  form  the  Australian  boomerang  but  do  not 
have  the  particular  character  which  makes  that  imple 
ment  return  to  the  thrower.  Deer  and  antelope  may 
have  been  hunted  in  a  similar  manner,  but  Capt.  Bourke 
in  1881  saw  corrals  of  brush  near  Hopi  into  which  an 
telope  were  driven.  Still  hunting  by  individuals  was, 
of  course,  practised.  Mr.  Gushing  tells  in  detail 
how  fetishes  wrere  used  in  such  hunts. 

Fish  for  food  were  taken  in  the  Rio  Grande  region 
where  there  seems  to  be  no  taboo  against  their 
use.  One  of  the  most  interesting  phases  of  South- 


MODERN   PUEBLOS.  85 

western  life  was  the  relation  existing  between  the  seden 
tary  and  nomadic  peoples.  We  are  told  by  the  Coro- 
nado  writers  and  by  Espejo  that  the  nomadic  peoples 
of  the  plains  and  of  the  mountains  of  the  Southwest 
brought  the  meat  and  the  hides  of  buffalo  and  deer  to 
the  pueblos  and  exchanged  them  for  mantles  of  cotton 
and  for  corn.  This  exchange  of  products  allowed 
one  people  to  concentrate  upon  agriculture  and  the 
other  upon  hunting,  yet  each  to  have  both  corn  and 
meat  for  food,  and  cotton  cloth  and  dressed  skins  for 
clothing. 

DRESS. 

The  dress  of  the  sedentary  Indians  of  the  Southwest 
changed  but  little  from  the  time  it  was  first  described 
in  the  sixteenth  century  until  the  American  occupation 
and  railroads  brought  other  styles  and  cheaper  mate 
rials. 

In  the  east,  at  Taos,  Picuris,  and  Pecos,  skins  were 
almost,  if  not  quite  exclusively  worn.  The  men  were 
described  as  wearing  small  shirts  with  fringes,  and  robes 
of  buffalo  skin  decorated  with  painted  designs.  The 
women's  clothing  of  these  particular  pueblos  is  not 
mentioned  at  an  early  date  but  at  the  present  time  the 
long  buckskin  dresses  of  the  Plains  type  are  occasion 
ally  seen  at  Taos.  The  dress  of  the  men  at  that  pueblo 
is  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  that  worn  by  the 
Indians  of  the  Plains;  long  leggings  of  fringed  buckskin, 
or  of  red  or  blue  flannel  are  still  generally  worn.  The 


86 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


breech  cloth  of  similar  flannel  is  wide  and  long,  hanging 
nearly  to  the  ground.  Buckskin  shirts,  which  are  less 
common,  are  of  the  usual  Plains  type. 

For  all  the  other  pueblos,  the  sixteenth  century  dress 
of  the  men  was  an  apron  or  kilt.  These  were  of  cotton 
and  are  described  as  resembling  napkins  of  that  period 


Hopi  Robe. 

but  having  tassels  at  each  corner.  Kilts  which  are 
probably  similar  to  these  are  still  worn  as  ceremonial 
garments.  At  the  present  time  a  short,  narrow  breech 
cloth  of  white  cotton,  falling  only  a  few  inches  from  the 
belt  before  and  behind,  is  the  only  essential  garment 
for  men  at  hard  work  or  engaged  in  ceremonies. 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  87 

A  robe  of  some  sort  is  a  necessary  adjunct  at  all 
ordinary  times  regardless  of  the  season.  In  Coronado's 
time  these  robes  were  of  cotton,  woven  rabbitskins, 
dressed  skins,  often  buffalo,  and  turkey  feathers  fas 
tened  to  a  net.  Large  flocks  of  turkeys  used  to  be  kept 
to  supply  feathers  for  these  garments  and  for  cere 
monies.  Robes  of  feathers  have  not  been  in  use  for 
many  years  but  the  other  materials  have  been  dis 
placed  only  recently,  first  by  woolen  blankets  bought 
of  the  Navajo,  and  later  by  the  gayly  colored  factory 
products  introduced  by  the  American  traders. 

White  cotton  trousers  coming  some  inches  below  the 
knee,  but  split  on  the  outer  side,  and  a  cotton  shirt 
falling  over  the  trousers,  girded  with  a  cotton  belt, 
were  additions  adopted  from  the  Spanish  and  still 
worn  by  the  older  men. 

The  woman's  dress  as  first  described,  consisted  of  a 
single  garment,  of  yucca  fiber  at  Zufii,  but  of  cotton 
elsewhere,  which  reached  from  the  shoulders  to  the 
knees.  It  was  fastened  over  the  right  shoulder  but 
open  at  the  left  where  two  tassels  hung.  A  belt  was 
worn  at  the  waist.  Later,  the  material  changed  to 
wool,  dyed  blue  or  black  and  woven  diagonally,  but 
the  form  remained  the  same  until  a  few  years  ago. 
It  is  still  worn  on  ceremonial  occasions  and  generally 
by  the  older  Hopi  women.  Specimens  of  the  old 
cotton  dresses  embroidered  in  colors  with  woolen  yarn 
are  still  in  existence.  The  Museum  has  a  few  excellent 
specimens  of  these  which  came  from  Acoma.  An 
under  garment  of  white  cotton  was  adopted  by  the 


88 


INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 


women  of  the  Rio  Grande  region  and  is  worn  so  that.., 
the  lace  border  shows  below  the  outer  skirt. 

The  hair  of  the  Zuni  women  was  described  by  Cas- 
tafieda  as  done  up  above  the  ears  in  large  whorls.  The 
practice  is  still  maintained  by  the  Hopi  maidens  who 
are  thus  distinguished  from  the  matrons  who  wear 


Woman's  Dress,  Acoma. 

their  hair  in  two  braids.  Both  men  and  women, 
except  at  Taos  and  Picuris,  wear  the  front  hair  banged 
above  the  eyes  and  the  side  locks  cut  square,  even  with 
the  mouth.  On  the  Rio  Grande,  the  men  frequently 
tie  their  hair  with  yarn,  in  two  folded  clubs.  At  Taos 


MODERN    PUEBLOS. 


86 


the  braids  are  wrapped  with  fur  or  flannel  as  is  the 
custom  of  the  Plains  Indians.  The  hair  of  both  men 
and  women  is  frequently  washed  with  yucca  root  suds. 
The  moccasins  of  both  men  and  women  have  hard 
soles,  a  fact  emphasized  by  Castaneda  as  new  and 
important,  who  adds  that  buskins  reaching  the  knee 
were  worn  in  winter.  The  women's  moccasins  are  now 


Embroidered  Shirt.     Acoma. 

provided  with  a  long  strip  of  buckskin  which  is  wrapped 
many  times  around  the  lower  leg.  They  are  whitened 
with  white  earth.  Under  these  leggings  are  worn 
footless  stockings  knit  of  black  woolen  yarn. 

The  ornaments  of  turquoise  and  sea  shells  worn  in 


90  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

the  ears  and  about  the  neck  in  earlier  times  were  later 
supplemented  by.  silver  beads  of  native  manufacture. 
The  earrings  of  inlaid  turquoise  mosaic  mentioned  by 
the  early  Spanish  are  still  worn  by  Hopi  women. 

The  native  cotton  originally  employed  in  clothing 
was  largely  cultivated  at  Hopi  and  to  some  extent  on 
the  Rio  Grande  below  Cochiti  in  Coronado's  time. 
Very  little  cotton  is  now  grown.  Wool  was  introduced 
with  sheep  at  an  early  date,  for  we  know  they  had  large 
flocks  at  the  time  of  the  rebellion. 


INDUSTRIAL  ARTS. 

Pottery.  The  household  vessels  of  the  modern 
sedentary  peoples  are  mostly  of  clay.  These  are  used 
for  transporting  and  storing  water  and  for  the  storage, 
cooking,  and  serving  of  food.  For  making  them  the 
clay  found  commonly  in  the  Southwest  is  tempered 
with  pottery  fragments  finely  ground.  When  suffi 
ciently  softened  with  water,  a  lump  of  this  is  hollowed 
to  form  the  nucleus  of  the  bottom  of  the  vessel.  To 
this  round  after  round  of  clay,  rolled  into  a  slender 
cylinder,  is  applied  and  made  to  adhere  by  pressure. 
The  interior  and  exterior  surfaces  are  molded  with  the 
hand  and  smoothed  with  a  piece  of  gourd  shell.  Water 
must  constantly  be  applied  to  keep  the  clay  in  workable 
condition.  When  the  vessel  has  been  built  in  this 
manner  to  the  desired  size  and  shape,  it  is  allowed  to 
dry  thoroughly  in  the  sun.  It  is  prepared  for  orna- 


MODERN    PUEBLOS. 


91 


mentation  by  polishing  it  with  a  stone  and  giving  it  a 
thin  slip  of  fine  clay  after  which  it  is  repolished.  The 
designs  are  then  painted  on  by  means  of  a  brush  of 
yucca  fiber  or  a  sharpened  stick. 


« 

I 

I 


Santa  Clara  Woman  firing  Pottery. 
(Copyrighted  by   Fred   Harvey.) 

The  vessels  are  fired  by  placing  several  of  them 
bottom  side  up  on  small  stones  and  covering  them  with 
dry  sheep  manure  which  is  used  for  fuel.  This  main 
tains  a  uniform  and  continuous  heat  until  they  are 


92 


INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 


properly  burned.  If  the  smoke  is  confined  by  adding 
a  supply  of  fresh  fine  material  at  the  right  time,  the 
carbon  of  the  smoke  unites  with  the  paint  and  pro 
duces  a  black  ware  characteristic  of  Santa  Clara. 


San  Ildefonso  Pottery. 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  93 

This  uniformly  black  ware  gains  in  graceful  lines 
what  it  lacks  in  gay  colors.  At  San  Juan  a  peculiar 
form  is  a  pot,  red  above,  and  undecorated  below.  This 
red  applied  as  a  slip  is  also  sometimes  used  as  a  back 
ground  on  which  designs  in  other  colors  are  painted. 
The  more  common  background,  however,  is  the  cream 
color  of  the  uncolored  clay  to  which  rarely  a  little  red 
is  added,  producing  pink.  The  designs  are  painted 
on  in  black,  obtained  from  the  juice  ot  the  wako  weed, 
and  in  red  and  yellow  derived  from  iron  ore. 

These  designs  jire  partly  geometrical  and  purely 
decorative;  partly  representations  of  mountains,  clouds, 
and  rainbows,  so  highly  conventionalized  as  often  to 
appear  geometrical;  and  partly  realistic  representations 
of  flowers  and  animals.  Among  the  latter  are  most 
frequently  found  those  which  are  of  economic  value 
or  of  ceremonial  importance,  such  as  the  sunflower, 
cotton  plant,  the  parrot,  and  the  turkey.  The  larger 
animals  like  the  antelope,  frequently  seen  on  Zufii  pots, 
have  the  positions  of  the  internal  organs  indicated. 

The  background  of  the  Hopi  pottery  has  a  character 
istic  yellow  tone.  The  upper  portion  of  the  bowls  is 
often  drawn  in  sharply  making  the  top  nearly  flat.  The 
designs,  which  are  of  the  same  general  sort  found  in 
Rio  Grande  pottery,  are  executed  in  a  peculiar  style. 
In  recent  years  both  the  shapes  and  the  decorations 
have  been  considerably  modified  to  meet  commercial 
demands.  This  is  especially  to  be  noted  in  the  more 
frequent  use  of  symbols  which  belong  more  properly  to 
ceremonial  objects. 


94  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

Basketry.  At  Zufii  and  Hopi,  baskets  quite  similar 
to  those  found  in  the  prehistoric  ruins  ^re_still  plaited 
of  yucca  leaves  attached  to  a  heavy  wooden  rim.  Rude 
carrying  baskets  and  cradles  with  a  basketry  band 
for  the  protection  of  the  head  are  in  general  use.  At 
Hopi,  decorated,  nearly  flat  trays  are  also  made,  but 
those  of  Oraibi  are  strikingly  different  from  those  of 
the  middle  mesa  where  the  coiling  method  is  employed 
and  very  thick  foundation  coils  are  used.  The  Oraibi 
mako  use  of  twining  with  the  foundation  material.. 


Hopi  Pottery. 

radiating  from  the  center.  These  flat  baskets  are  used 
in  ceremonies,  certain  features  of  which  the  decorations 
often  symbolize. 

Weaving.  Recently  weaving  which  flourished  in 
earlier  centuries  has  declined;  at  first  because  of  the 
large  output  of  the  neighboring  Navajo  and  later  from 
the  introduction,  of  European  goods.  The  garments 
needed  in  the  ceremonies  are  still  made  at  Hopi  and 
every  bridegroom  must  weave  or  have  woven  a  trous- 


MODERN   PEUBLOS.  95 

seau  for  his  bride.  The  Hopi,  and  probably  others  of 
the  Pueblos,  beside  the  diagonally  woven  women's 
dresses  with  raised  diamond  patterns,  made  large  robes. 
Those  characteristic  of  the  Hopi  were  decorated  by 
narrow  horizontal  stripes,  chiefly  of  blue.  The  imple- 


Hopi  Baskets. 

ments  and  processes  are  those  still  employed  by  the 
Navajo  and  will  be  described  in  another  section.  The 
spinning  and  weaving  is  looked  upon  as  the  work  of 
the  men  and  is  generally  done  by  them  in  the  kivas. 


96  INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST 


DECORATIVE  ART. 

Decorative  art  is  chiefly  displayed  in  freehand  paint 
ing  on  the  surface  of  pottery  vessels.  The  geometrical 
patterns  are  well  devised  and  well  executed.  Both 
flowers  and  animals  are  reproduced  viewed  as  flat  with 
no  attempt  at  perspective,  but  real  talent  or  genius  in 
drawing  is  never  displayed.  Apparently  the  older  art 
gave  way  under  European  influences  to  new  forms  which 
for  some  reason  have  not  reached  the  perfection  of  the 
old  seen  in  the  black  and  white  ware  from  the  Tularosa 
ruins  and  the  excellently  colored  vessels  from  the  Little 
Colorado.  Since  we  know  certain  of  the  villages  in  the 
latter  region  wrere  deserted  at  an  early  date,  we  are 
justified  in  concluding  that  this  art  reached  its  flower 
near  the  beginning  of  the  historic  period. 

Symbolic  art,  while  found  upon  pottery,  is  particu 
larly  developed  in  ceremonial  painting  and  carving. 
Not  only  are  such  cloud  symbols  as  that  seen  on  the 
cover  of  this  book  common,  in  which  semicircles  stand 
for  clouds,  zigzag  arrows  for  lightning,  and  vertical 
lines  for  rain,  but  many  other  conventions  are  employed. 
The  prayer  bowls  and  the  wooden  headdresses  worn  in 
dances  often  have  their  tops  fashioned  in  terraces 
which  represent  both  mesas  and  mountain  peaks  and 
stand  in  general  for  the  earth.  In  the  dry  or  sand 
paintings,  described  in  another  section,  excellent  flat 
representations  of  animals  are  produced. 

It  is  difTicult  in  a  sentence  or  a  paragraph  to  give  the 


MODERN   PUEBLOS.  97 

reader  an  adequate  conception  of  the  extent  to  which 
color  and  number  enter  into  the  myths,  songs,  prayers, 
and  ceremonial  observations.  All  important  things 
are  repeated  for  each  of  the  cardinal  points  with  chang 
ing  color  and  symbolism.  These  conceptions  of  color 
and  number,  while  put  to  a  ceremonial  use,  are  almost 
certainly  esthetic  in  their  origin. 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

One  form  of  social  grouping,  that  by  clans,  is  repre 
sented  in  several  parts  of  North  America  as  well  as  in 
Australia  and  elsewhere  in  the  world.  The  political 
body  is  composed  of  a  definite  number  of  groups  each 
consisting  of  individuals  of  all  ages  and  sexes  who  con 
sider  themselves  related  through  their  mothers.  The 
essential  point  in  this  system  is  that  this  maternal  re 
lationship  should  be  considered  so  intimate  that  marriage 
cannot  take  place  within  the  group.  There  is  also  often 
an  element  of  religion  associated  with  these  social 
groups.  The  more  usual  form  is  connected  with  the 
belief  that  the  clan  is  descended  from  a  mythical  ances 
tor,  usually  an  animal.  The  clan  is  under  the  especial 
protection  of  this  ancestor  and  in  turn  worships  it. 
When  these  two  things  are  found  associated,  namely, 
exogamous  clans,  in  which  the  descent  is  maternal, 
and  religious  beliefs  and  practices  peculiar  to  the  clan 
in  regard  to  a  mythical  ancestor,  the  name  totemism 
is  applied.  The  best  examples  of  totemism  are  found 


98  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

in  Australia,  among  the  Iroquois,  and  along  the  North 
west  Coast  of  North  America.  In  many  communities 
every  bit  as  primitive,  no  such  things  exist.  There  are 
no  clans  and  of  course,  no  clan  religion. 

In  the  Southwest,  among  the  Pueblos,  we  do  have 
clans,  well  organized  and  prominent.  Although  four 
totally  different  languages  are  spoken  the  names  of 
these  clans  have  the  same  meanings  and  are  always 
recognized  by  the  Indians  as  equivalent  or  identical. 
In  the  smaller  pueblos  many  of  the  clans  appear  to  have 
become  extinct. 

The  names  of  the  clans  of  the  Rio  Grande  pueblos 
are  rather  evenly  distributed  among  the  natural  orders. 
There  is  probably  some  cause  for  this  arrangement  but 
what  it  is  it  may  be  impossible  to  discover  at  this  late 
day.  In  the  list  given  below,  which  is  practically  that 
of  Mr.  Hodge,  only  those  found  in  several  villages  are 
included.  They  are:  sun,  cloud,  sky,  moon,  star, 
earth,  water,  fire,  turquoise,  white  bead,  coral  bead, 
salt,  stone,  corn,  calabash,  oak,  cottonwood,  tobacco, 
grass,  pine,  firewood,  arrow,  eagle,  turkey,  parrot, 
roadrunner,  crow,  hawk,  bear,  panther,  deer,  antelope, 
buffalo,  badger,  coyote,  gopher,  marten,  rattlesnake, 
lizard,  frog,  and  ant.  Among  the  Tewa  villages  the 
clans  are  assignable  to  one  or  the  other  of  two  major 
divisions  or  phratries,  the  winter  and  the  summer 
peopled  The  Hopi  clans,  according  to  Dr.  Fewkes,  are 
grouped  in  the  following  phratries:  horn-flute,  water 
house,  snake,  reed,  wood,  cottontail  rabbit,  earth,  bear, 
kachina,  tansy  mustard,  tobacco,  and  badger.  The 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  99 

names  given  these  phratries  are  the  names  of  the  clans 
which  are  dominant  in  them. 

In  the  Keresan  villages  of  the  Rio  Grande  region  the 
children  belong  to  the  clan  of  the  mother.  This  has 
been  established  for  Cochiti  by  a  clan  and  individual 
census  made  by  Prof.  Starr.  It  seems  among  some  of 
the  Tewa  villages  the  children  belong  to  the  clan  of  the 
father,  however  little  attention  is  now  believed  to  be 
paid  to  the  clans  even  in  the  matter  of  marriage  since 
it  is  difficult  to  arrange  proper  marriages  with  the  clans 
so  much  reduced  in  number  and  size  of  membership. 
The  cacique  still  adheres  to  what  appears  to  have  been 
the  former  general  custom  of  addressing  each  individual 
by  his  name  followed  by  the  name  of  his  clan. 

Among  the  Hopi  the  children  are  of  the  mother's 
clan  and  the  clans  are  exogamous.  At  Zufii,  while  a 
child  is  of  his  mother's  clan,  he  is  spoken  of  as  the 
" child"  of  the  clan  of  his  father  and  there  are  certain 
duties  which  are  performed  not  by  a  member  of  a  clan 
but  by  a  " child"  of  a  clan. 

It  has  been  conjectured  that  in  earlier  times  each 
clan  occupied  a  definite  section  of  the  communal 
dwelling  or  even  a  separate  building;  that  the  fields  of 
a  clan  were  in  a  continuous  tract;  and  that  the  men  of 
each  clan  had  a  separate  kiva  which  served  as  a  com 
mon  sleeping  place  and  a  clubroom.  Castafieda,  in 
deed,  remarks  that  the  estufas  are  the  property  of  the 
men,  but  the  houses  the  property  of  the  women.  Plans 
have  been  made  of  a  number  of  the  villages  showing 
the  clan  relationship  of  those  occupying  adjoining 


100  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

rooms,  but  not  much  more  uniformity  is  found  to 
exist  than  would  be  expected  to  result  from  the  ordinary 
ties  of  blood  relationship.  It  is  true  that  certain 
Hopi  kivas  are  looked  upon  as  clan  kivas  and  certain 
eagle  nests  are  recognized  as  clan  property. 

The  women  have  equal  if  not  superior  property 
rights  with  the  men  in  the  harvested  crops  and  in  the 
flocks  of  sheep  and  goats.  The  horses  only  are  con 
sidered  the  undisputed  property  of  the  men  to  be 
disposed  of  without  consulting  the  wives. 

It  is  important  to  note  that  the  ceremonies  of  the 
Hopi  are  generally  associated  with  certain  clans  or 
group  of  clans  who  lead  in  their  celebration.  In  the 
case  of  certain  clans,  the  snake  clan  for  example,  the 
name  does  represent  a  mythical  ancestor  from  which 
the  clan  is  believed  to  be  descended.  In  general, 
however,  the  explanation  of  the  clan's  name  and  origin 
is  geographical  or  incidental.  It  is  believed  to  have 
lived  in  a  particular  locality,  usually  where  ruins  are  to 
be  seen,  where  it  bore  as  a  political  unit  the  name  which 
it  now  has  as  a  clan.  When  the  clans  came  to  Oraibi, 
in  mythical  times,  each  was  asked  if  it  had  some  cere 
mony  £hat  would  cause  rain  to  fall,  the  crops  to  grow, 
or  in  some  other  way  promote  the  public  welfare.  It 
seems  then  that  the  social  religious  system  existing  in 
the  villages  of  the  Southwest  may  properly  be  called 
totemism,  provided  that  term  be  used  in  a  broad  sense. 

The  Indian  explanation  of  the  origin  of  the  clans, 
that  they  have  resulted  from  the  migration  of  former 
politically  independent  bodies  who  have  thus  been 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  101 

united  in  a  common  village,  cannot  be  accepted.  If 
those  of  one  village  only  had  to  be  explained  this  theory 
might  hold,  but  clans  with  similar  names  exist  in  the 
Rio  Grande  Pueblos,  at  Zufii,  and  in  the  several  Hopi 
villages.  The  fact  that  four  distinct  languages  are 
spoken  in  these  various  villages  adds  to  the  difficulty 
of  accepting  such  an  explanation.  When  it  is  re 
membered  that  such  grouping  into  exogamous  clans 
occurs  elsewhere  in  the  world,  a  social  rather  than  a 
geographical  or  ethnic  origin  will  be  sought. 


SOCIAL  CUSTOMS. 

The  Hopi  baby  is  first  washed  and  dressed  by  its 
paternal  grandmother  or  by  one  of  her  sisters.  On  the 
day  of  its  birth,  she  makes  four  marks  with  corn  meal 
on  the  four  walls  of  the  room.  She  erases  one  of  these 
on  the  fifth,  tenth,  fifteenth,  and  twentieth  day  of  the 
child's  life.  On  each  of  these  days  the  baby  and  its 
mother  have  their  heads  washed  with  yucca  suds. 
On  the  twentieth  day,  which  marks  the  end  of  the 
lying-in  period,  the  grandmother  comes  early,  bathes 
the  baby  and  puts  some  corn  meal  to  its  lips.  She 
utters  a  prayer  in  which  she  requests  that  the  child 
shall  reach  old  age  and  in  this  prayer  gives  it  a  name. 
A  few  of  the  women  members  of  the  father's  clan  come 
in  one  at  a  time,  bathe  the  baby,  and  give  it  additional 
names.  After  the  names  have  been  given,  the  paternal 
grandmother  goes  with  the  mother  and  the  child  to  the 


102 


INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


eastern  edge  of  the  mesa,  starting  so  as  to  arrive  there 
about  sunrise.  Two  ears  of  white  corn  which  have 
been  lying  near  the  child  during  the  twenty  days  are 
carried  with  them.  The  grandmother  touches  these 
ears  of  corn  to  the  baby's  breast  and  waves  them 
toward  the  east.  She  also  strews  corn  meal  toward  the 
sun,  placing  a  little  on  the  child's  mouth.  As  she  does 
this,  she  prays,  uttering  in  the  course  of  her  prayer 
the  various  names  which  have  been  given  to  the  child. 
The  mother  goes  through  a  similar  ceremony  and  utters 
a  similar  prayer. 

The  names  given  relate  in  some  way  to  the  clan  of 
the  one  who  bestows  them.  Of  the  various  names 
given  the  child,  one,  because  it  strikes  the  fancy  of  the 
family,  generally  sticks  and  becomes  the  child's  name 
which  is  retained  until  the  individual  is  initiated  into 
some  ceremony.  This  usually  takes  place  between 
the  ages  of  fifteen  and  eighteen.  At  that  time,  a  new 
name  which  is  usually  retained  throughout  the  indi 
vidual's  life  is  given  by  the  man  or  woman  who  is 
sponsor  for  the  novice. 

At  the  present  time  at  least,  the  Hopi  young  people 
arrange  their  own  marriages.  When  their  minds  are 
thoroughly  made  up,  and  the  young  man  has  acquired 
some  property,  the  parents  are  informed  of  the  matter. 
Marriages  usually  take  place  in  the  fall  or  winter.  The 
first  step  is  for  the  mother  of  the  girl  to  accompany  her 
to  the  young  man's  house  with  a  tray  of  white  corn 
meal.  She  gives  this  to  the  young  man's  mother,  and 
returns  to  her  home.  The  girl  remains  and  grinds 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  103 

corn  for  three  days.  In  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day, 
the  relatives  of  the  couple  assemble  at  the  bridegroom's 
house.  The  two  future  mothers-in-law  prepare  two 
large  bowls  of  yucca  suds.  With  one  of  these  the 
mother  of  the  girl  washes  the  boy's  head  and  the  boy's 
mother  does  the  same  for  the  girl.  The  other  female 
relatives  present  assist  in  rinsing  the  suds  from  the  hair. 

When  the  washing  is  finished,  the  bridal  pair  take  a 
pinch  of  corn  meal  and  walk  silently  to  the  eastern 
side  of  the  mesa.  They  breathe  upon  the  corn  meal, 
throw  it  toward  the  rising  sun,  and  utter  a  short  prayer. 
When  they  have  returned  to  the  young  man's  house, 
the  marriage  itself  is  considered  complete  although  the 
ceremony  is  not.  The  girl  assists  her  mother-in-law 
in  preparing  a  breakfast  which  is  eaten  by  the  members 
of  both  families.  After  breakfast,  the  father  of  the 
young  man  runs  out  of  the  house  and  distributes  balls 
of  cotton  to  the  friends  and  relatives  who  are  expected 
to  separate  the  seeds  from  the  cotton. 

A  few  days  later,  the  crier  announces  that  the  spin 
ning  of  the  cotton  is  to  take  place.  The  men  relatives 
and  friends  gather  in  their  kivas  and  spend  the  day  in 
carding  and  spinning  cotton.  This  they  bring  in  the 
evening  to  the  bridegroom's  house  where  they  partake 
of  a  feast.  From  the  cotton  yarn  prepared  in  this  way, 
the  father  of  the  bridegroom,  assisted  by  the  other 
men  of  the  family,  weaves  two  large  white  robes  and  a 
white  fringed  girdle.  A  pair  of  moccasins  provided 
with  long  buckskin  strips  is  also  made.  The  blanket 
and  the  moccasins  are  coated  with  white  earth.  When 


104  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

the  outfit  has  been  completed,  which  usually  takes  six 
or  seven  weeks,  the  bride  is  dressed  by  her  mother-in- 
law  in  the  moccasins  and  one  of  the  robes.  The 
other  robe,  wrapped  in  a  reed  mat,  she  takes  in  her 
hands  and  goes  to  her  mother's  house,  where  her  hus 
band  also  appears  during  the  day.  They  live  with  the 
girl's  people  for  some  months  or  until  a  new  home  is 
made  ready. 

The  preparation  of  clothing  for  the  bride  by  the 
bridegroom  or  men  of  his  family  is  evidently  an  old 
custom  for  Castaneda  mentions  it  as  being  the  practice 
in  his  day  on  the  Rio  Grande.  Villagran,  who  wrote  a 
long  poem  on  the  conquest  of  New  Mexico,  describes  a 
wedding  during  which  the  robes  of  the  pair  were  tied 
together. 

When  an  adult  dies,  the  nearest  relatives  by  blood 
wash  the  head,  tie  a  feather  offering  to  the  hair  so  that 
it  will  hang  over  the  forehead,  wrap  the  body  in  a  good 
robe,  and  carry  it  to  one  of  the  graveyards  which  are 
in  the  valleys  near  the  mesas.  The  body  is  buried  in 
a  sitting  position  so  that  it  faces  the  east.  This  is 
done  within  a  few  hours  after  death  has  occurred.  The 
third  night,  a  bowl  containing  some  food,  a  prayer- 
stick  offering,  and  a  feather  and  string  offering  are 
carried  to  the  grave.  The  string  is  placed  so  that  it 
points  from  the  grave  toward  the  west.  The  next 
morning,  the  fourth,  the  soul  is  supposed  to  rise  from 
the  grave,  and  proceed  in  the  direction  indicated  by  the 
string  where  it  enters  the  "  skeleton  house."  This  is 
believed  to  be  situated  somewhere  near  the  Canyon 
of  the  Colorado. 


MODERN   PUEBLOS.  105 

The  bodies  of  children  who  have  not  yet  been  ini 
tiated  into  some  society  are  not  buried  in  the  ground 
but  are  placed  in  a  crevice  of  the  rock  somewhere  in 
the  side  of  the  mesas  and  covered  with  stones.  The 
string  offering  in  this  case  is  not  placed  pointing  toward 
the  west,  but  toward  the  house  where  the  family  lives. 
The  spirit  of  the  child  is  believed  to  return  to  the  house 
and  to  be  reborn  in  the  body  of  the  next  child,  or  to 
linger  about  the  house  until  the  mother  dies,  when  it 
accompanies  her  to  the  world  of  the  departed. 


POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION. 

The  political  government  of  each  Rio  Grande  pueblo 
is  in  the  hands  of  a  governor,  council,  and  a  war  chief. 
The  governor,  chosen  annually  by  a  formal  election, 
is  in  reality  named  by  the  cacique,  a  permanent  officer 
whose  duties  are  chiefly  religious.  There  is  usually 
also  a  lieutenant  governor  chosen  in  the  same  way. 
The  war  chief  too  is  appointed  annually  and  confirmed 
by  the  council. 

This  council,  which  is  the  legislative  body,  is  perma 
nent  in  some  pueblos  but  elected  annually  in  others. 
It  is  believed  by  some  to  be  a  survival  of  an  earlier 
council  in  which  each  of  the  clans  was  represented  by 
its  head. 

The  governor  is  the  representative  of  the  village  in 
its  dealings  with  other  villages  and  with  the  general 
public  and  is  its  nominal  head.  The  war  chief  directs 


106  INDIANS   OF  THE    SOUTHWEST. 

all  communal  work  such  as  that  on  the  irrigation 
ditches  and  the  communal  hunt.  In  earlier  times  he 
led  the  war  expeditions  and  had  charge  of  the  defense 
of  the  pueblo.  He  is  the  executive  officer  of  the  council 
and  carries  out  its  decrees.  These  frequently  have 
involved  the  death  of  persons  suspected  of  witchcraft. 

The  Hopi  pueblos  each  have  a  village  chief,  a  crier 
chief,  and  a  war  chief  who  hold  their  positions  for  life. 
One  of  the  members  of  each  clan  is  usually  recognized 
as  its  head  and  controls  the  kiva  and  the  house  room 
which  is  looked  upon  as  the  clan  home. 

The  older  methods  of  defensive  warfare  are  well 
illustrated  in  the  accounts  of  conflicts  between  the 
Spanish  and  certain  pueblos  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
At  Zufii  the  men  withdrew  to  the  housetops  and  pulled 
up  the  ladders.  When  the  Spanish  advanced  within 
reach,  arrows  were  discharged  and  stones  were  thrown 
down.  The  women,  children,  and  old  men  had  been 
sent  to  other  villages  or  to  Thunder  Mountain.  Similar 
methods  were  resorted  to  at  Tiguex  where  a  besieged 
pueblo  held  out  for  many  months  because  occasional 
falls  of  snow  furnished  a  fresh  supply  of  water.  Pecos, 
which  had  a  wall  and  a  spring  inside,  was  said  by 
Castaneda  to  have  resisted  successfully  the  attacks 
of  Plains  Indians. 

The  weapons  used  were  bows  and  arrows,  a  stone- 
headed  club,  and  a  stick  half  a  yard  long,  set  with 
flints  which  Espejo  says  would  split  a  man  asunder. 
For  the  protection  of  the  warriors,  shields  of  rawhide, 
leather  jackets,  and  head  pieces  of  leather  are  men 
tioned. 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  107 

Formerly  among  the  Hopi  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
Snake,  Coyote,  and  Burrowing  Owl  clans  to  avenge  the 
death  of  a  Hopi  killed  by  any  one  outside  of  the  tribe, 
to  police  the  village,  and  in  battles  to  fight  in  the  fore 
most  ranks  with  war  clubs  while  others  were  privileged 
to  use  bows  and  arrows. 


RELIGIOUS  PRACTICES. 

The  religious  activities  of  the  sedentary  people  of 
the  Southwest  are  so  many  and  so  intricate  that  it  is 
difficult  to  describe  or  discuss  them,  especially  in  a 
limited  space.  There  are  some  common  elements, 
however,  which  are  worthy  of  notice.  The  ceremonies 
often  take  the  form  of  dramas  in  which  the  movements 
and  activities  of  supernatural  beings  and  animals  are 
imitated.  The  actors  wear  masks,  paint  their  bodies, 
and  conduct  themselves  according  to  the  supposed 
appearance  and  character  of  the  divinity  or  animal 
represented.  The  divinities  are  also  represented  by 
large  stone  images  rudely  shaped  and  by  smaller  ones 
which  are  better  executed  in  soft  stone  or  wood. 

There  are  permanent  shrines  usually  near  the  villages, 
often  walled  in  on  three  sides  and  sometimes  sheltering 
an  image  or  a  peculiarly  shaped  stone.  Temporary 
altars  are  made  during  the  ceremonies  by  setting  up  a 
line  of  wooden  slabs  carved  or  painted  with  religious 
symbols  before  which  dry  paintings  are  made.  These 
dry  paintings  are  made  by  sprinkling  sand  of  various 
colors  so  as  to  form  symbols,  and  pictures  of  the  gods. 


108  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

Small  sticks,  singly  or  in  pairs,  are  painted  and  often 
have  faces  indicated  on  them.  Feathers,  and  a  corn 
husk  containing  corn  meal  and  honey  are  usually 
attached  to  them.  They  are  placed  at  the  shrines 
and  springs  for  the  deities.  Corn  meal  and  pollen  are 
strewed  and  thrown  toward  the  sun.  Corn  meal  is 
frequently  used  to  mark  ceremonial  trails  and  to  define 
the  limits  of  sacred  places.  Races  generally  occur 
during  the  ceremonies,  but  the  significance  of  them  is 
not  clear.  Bathing  the  head  and  the  use  of  emetics 
are  resorted  to  as  methods  of  purification. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  Southwestern  cere 
monials  chiefly  employ  dramatic,  graphic,  and  pictorial 
art  to  accomplish  their  purposes  which  appear  to  be 
the  influencing  of  invisible  supernatural  powers  and 
through  them  the  natural  forces.  The  greater  number 
of  the  ceremonies  are  intended  to  bring  rain  and  to 
aid  in  fertilizing  the  crops. 

It  is  only  from  Bandelier's  short  account  of  his 
observations  among  the  Pueblos  of  the  Rio  Grande 
published  many  years  ago,  and  the  work  of  Mrs. 
Stevenson  among  the  Sia  that  we  are  able  to  get  a  view 
at  all  comprehensive  of  the  religious  organization  of 
the  Rio  Grande  region. 

At  the  head  of  the  political  and  religious  systems  is 
the  cacique,  as  he  is  ordinarily  called.  The  office 
which  is  held  for  life  requires  years  of  training  and 
study  as  a  preparation,  and  its  duties  are  arduous. 
He  is  expected  to  devote  himself  to  a  life  of  fasting  and 
prayer.  His  fasts  vary  from  slight  temporary  self 


MODERN    PUEBLOS. 


109 


denials  to  absolute  abstinence  of  four  days  duration 
according  to  the  seriousness  of  the  people's  need.  He 
is  the  mouthpiece  of  the  divinities  whom  he  is  called 
upon  by  the  tribe  or  by  individuals  to  consult.  Because 
he  is  believed  to  speak  by  divine  authority  his  influence 
is  very  great.  He  names  his  successor  and  nominates 
the  civil  officers  of  the  village.  He  is  not  supposed, 
however,  to  enter  into  petty  quarrels  nor  to  take  part 
in  minor  discussions  in  the  council.  That  he  may  be 


Hopi  Prayer  Offerings. 

free  to  devote  himself  to  such  a  life  his  wants  are 
provided  for  by  his  people  who  supply  him  with  wood 
and  cultivate  a  field  for  his  benefit.  He  has  one  or  two 
assistants  from  whom  his  successor  is  chosen. 

There  are  many  societies  more  or  less  secret,  which 
have  the  knowledge  of  certain  prayers,  songs,  and  rites, 
which  they  are  expected  to  use  for  the  public  benefit. 
The  most  important  was  a  group  of  societies  which 


110  INDIANS   OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 

were  especially  devoted  to  ceremonies  leading  to  success 
in  war.  Among  the  Sia  these  societies  were  those  of  the 
Panther,  Bear,  and  Knife.  Their  leader  ranked  next 
to  the  cacique  in  religious  importance.  The  hunters 
in  earlier  days  were  also  important  since  they  had  the 
fetishes  and  the  ceremonies  by  which  game  could  be 
taken.  The  panther  was  their  patron  since  he  was 
looked  upon  as  the  most  successful  hunter.  The  head 
priest  of  the  hunters  was  also  a  most  important  person. 
Finally,  the  many  societies  (among  the  Sia,  the  Snake, 
Spider,  Ant,  etc.)  who  have  the  power  of  healing 
diseases  and  producing  rain  had  one  head  shaman, 
according  to  Bandelier,  whose  office  gave  him  great 
power,  particularly  in  the  discovery  and  punishment 
of  witches. 

Then  there  are  two  societies  or  classes  of  priests, 
the  Cuirana,  or  winter  priests,  and  the  Koshare,  the 
summer  priests,  to  use  the  Keresan  term.  The  former 
by  their  activities  cause  the  seeds  to  germinate,  while 
the  latter  bring  the  crops  and  all  animal  and  human 
life  as  well  to  maturity.  It  is  the  Koshare  who  act 
as  clowns  on  all  public  religious  occasions.  Each  of 
these  societies  has  a  leader  who  with  the  cacique  and  the 
head-priest  of  the  warriors,  hunters,  and  healers, 
constitute  a  most  important  sacerdotal  group. 

All  adults  are  expected  at  some  time  to  participate 
in  the  kachina  dances.  Masks  and  headdresses  are 
worn  to  represent  a  special  class  of  supernatural  beings, 
in  the  opinion  of  some,  ancestors.  Boys  and  girls  go 
through  an  initiation  which  consists  of  a  beating  and 


MODERN   PUEBLOS.  Ill 

then  one  of  the  dancers  unmasks  that  the  child  may 
see  that  the  gods  are  not  present  in  person  as  he  has 
formerly  supposed. 

Sia  Rain  Ceremony.  Mrs.  Stevenson,  who  witnessed 
several  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  Sia,  has  given  a  full 
description  of  the  rain  ceremony  of  the  snake  order. 
Prayer-sticks  notched  and  colored  were  prepared  for 
offering.  An  altar  with  a  dry  painting  representing 
clouds  by  terraced  semicircles  was  made.  On  it  were 
placed  several  fetishes  and  a  clan  or  society  emblem 
called  yaya  which  is  a  perfectly  kerneled  ear  of  corn 
entirely  covered  with  feathers. 

The  ceremony  proper  begins  with  a  strewing  of  a 
line  of  corn  meal  from  the  altar  to  the  door  over  which 
as  a  road  the  spirits  of  the  gods  are  supposed  to  travel 
and  temporarily  enter  the  fetishes.  There  is  much 
singing,  dancing,  and  praying,  mostly  by  individuals 
rather  than  in  concert.  In  a  bowl  of  water  to  which 
ground  yucca  roots  have  been  added  a  suds  is  made 
which  represents  clouds.  Pollen  is  sprinkled  into  this 
bowl  and  the  foam  is  scattered  over  the  altar. 

By  means  of  songs  and  prayers  the  gods  who  dwell 
in  six  sacred  springs  are  invoked  that  they  may  incite 
the  cloud  people  to  action.  By  each  of  these  springs 
there  is  supposed  to  be  a  hollow  tree  through  which 
the  cloud  people  carry  the  water  up  to  the  clouds. 
These  clouds  are  but  huge  masks  behind  which  the 
cloud  people  climb  and  from  which  they  sprinkle  the 
earth.  The  thunders  are  also  invoked.  They  are 
thought  to  be  beings  with  tails  and  wings  of  obsidian 


112 


INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


which  clash  and  make  the  noise  inciting   the  cloud 
beings  to  greater  activity. 

When  the  ceremony  is  finished  the  sand  painting  is 
obliterated  and  the  prayer-sticks  carried  to  a  nearby 
shrine  where  they  are  left  for  the  deities.  The  notches 
upon  these  sticks  and  the  painted  designs  are  supposed 


Clowns  climbing  Pole.     Taos. 

to  convey  the  message,  the  attached  feathers  being 
given  in  payment  for  the  favor  besought. 

Festivals.  The  public  ceremonies  of  the  Rio  Grande 
pueblos  have  taken  on  the  names  and  some  elements 
of  Catholic  festivals.  They  occur  on  fixed  dates  which 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  113 

are  also  the  days  sacred  to  their  patron  saints.  There 
are  probably  always  preliminary  activities  held  secretly 
in  the  kivas  which  are  in  part  rehearsals,  during  .which, 
however,  prayers  are  said  and  acts  of  worship  performed. 
The  last  day  is  devoted  to  a  public  spectacle  largely 
attended  by  visiting  Indians,  Mexicans,  and  others. 

The  ceremony  at  Taos  occurs  on  September  30th. 
The  image  of  the  saint  is  brought  from  the  church  and 
placed  in  an  elevated  booth  overlooking  the  plaza  in 
which  the  ceremonies  take  place.  A  tall  pole  erected  for 
the  purpose  has  a  great  variety  of  vegetable  products, 
cooked  and  in  their  natural  state,  fastened  to  the  top 
of  it  where  also  is  suspended  the  carcass  of  a  sheep 
which  in  recent  years  has  taken  the  place  of  that  of  a 
deer.  The  forenoon  is  devoted  to  races  in  which 
young  men  from  the  two  large  houses  compete  in  relays. 
The  victory  is  a  community  one  and  not  individual. 
The  winners  are  pelted  with  food  by  the  losers.  In  the 
afternoon  the  clowns  appear,  men  grotesquely  dressed 
and  painted  who  act  as  offensively  as  possible.  They 
take  the  lunch  baskets  from  women  and  empty  them, 
tear  the  clothing  from  a  man,  or  throw  him  fully 
clad  into  the  stream,  and  enter  any  house  they  choose. 
Finally,  they  approach  the  pole  as  if  tracking  an  animal, 
attempt  to  shoot  toy  arrows  to  the  top,  tug  at  its  base 
as  if  trying  to  uproot  a  tree,  and  at  last  make  attempts 
to  climb  it  which  succeed  for  one  of  their  number  who 
secures  the  food  for  his  fellows.  As  a  whole  the  cere 
mony  is  evidently  intended  as  a  consecration  of  the 
harvest  and  an  expression  of  thanksgiving  for  it. 


114 


INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


At  the  pueblo  of  Nambe,  which  is  now  much  reduced 
in  numbers,  a  dance  representing  the  deer  was  given  as 
a  spectacle  on  their  feast  day  in  1909.  The  dancers 
followed  by  the  drum  and  the  directors  of  the  ceremony 
made  a  circuit  of  the  plaza  several  times,  stopping 
now  and  then  to  dance. 

Among  the  Hopi  two  types  of  ceremonies  are  held 
at  separate  seasons  of  the  year.  The  kachina  cere- 


tt 


Deer  Dance.     Nambe. 

monies  begin  with  the  winter  solstice  and  terminate  in 
midsummer  when  a  farewell  ceremony  called  the  Niman 
kachina  is  held.  Shortly  after,  the  second  series  is 
opened  with  either  the  snake  dance  or  the  flute  cere 
mony  and  others  follow  until  November  when  the  new 
fire  ceremony  completes  them.  Kachinas  are  super- 


MODERN   PUEBLOS. 


115 


natural  beings,  who  during  the  period  when  their  dances 
are  held,  are  believed  to  visit  the  Hopi.  When  this 
season  is  over,  they  withdraw  to  their  homes  in  San 
Francisco  peaks  and  elsewhere.  They  are  represented 
in  the  dances  by  men  who  are  masked  and  painted  to 
correspond  to  the  traditional  conception  of  the  appear 
ance  of  each  kachina.  Small  wooden  images,  carved, 


Hopi  Kachina  Dolls. 

painted,  and  decorated  with  feathers,  are  also  used  to 
represent  them.  These  dolls  after  the  Niman  kachina 
is  held  are  given  to  the  children  to  play  with. 

Ceremonies  in  which  the  kachinas  appear  are  of  two 
kinds.  The  full  ceremonies,  which  are  the  first  held, 
have  in  addition  to  the  public  performances,  several 
days  devoted  to  secret  rites  in  the  kivas,  where  altars 


116  INDIANS    OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 

are  made.  The  abbreviated  kachinas,  which  come  late 
in  the  spring,  have  only  the  dances  in  the  plazas.  In 
these  dances,  the  men  who  represent  the  kachinas  wear, 
in  addition  to  the  masks,  embroidered  kilts  and  sashes. 
They  carry  gourd  rattles  in  their  hands  and  have 
tortoise-shell  rattles  tied  to  their  knees.  They  move 
forward  slowly  in  a  procession  with  mincing  steps 
timed  by  the  rattles.  The  priests  in  charge  of  the 
ceremonies  and  others  sprinkle  corn  meal  on  them  and 
pray  to  them  as  if  they  were  the  real  kachina  beings. 
These  occasions  are  enlivened  by  the  pranks  of  clowns 
who  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Rio  Grande  villages. 

The  ceremonies  of  the  second  series  are  distinguished 
from  the  kachina  ceremonies  by  the  absence  of  masked 
men  and  clowns.  They  are  generally  spoken  of  as 
nine  day  ceremonies  although  the  Hopi  themselves 
consider  that  they  last  from  the  day  of  the  formal 
announcement  until  their  completion  sixteen  days  after. 
All  have  certain  features  in  common.  Altars  are  made, 
prayer-sticks  are  prepared  and  offered  at  various  shrines, 
and  there  is  much  praying  and  singing  in  the  kivas. 
During  the  kiva  ceremonies,  the  participants  smoke 
in  turn,  addressing  each  other  with  terms  of  relationship 
as  the  pipe  or  cigarette  is  passed.  On  the  last  two 
days  of  the  ceremony  there  are  usually  foot  races  and 
public  performances.  These  ceremonies  are  given 
by  societies  or  orders  of  priests  under  the  direction  of 
the  head  of  the  order.  Anyone  may  become  a  member 
who  is  willing  to  be  initiated;  but  usually  some  one 
clan  predominates  in  the  membership  of  each  society. 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  117 

The  Snake  Dance.  The  most  widely  known  of  these 
ceremonies  is  the  snake  dance,  which  is  held  every 
second  year  in  all  the  Hopi  pueblos  except  Hano  and 
Sichumovi.  The  dances  of  Walpi  and  Oraibi  are 
those  which  attract  the  largest  number  of  visitors. 
The  ceremony  is  given  jointly  by  the  antelope  and  snake 
fraternities.  The  former  are  concerned  chiefly  with 
the  rites  in  the  kiva,  while  the  latter,  originally  a 
warrior  society,  gather  and  handle  the  snakes. 

To  secure  the  snakes  the  snake  priests  go  out  in 
pairs  provided  with  digging-sticks,  with  snake  whips 
of  feathers  and  with  bags  of  buckskin  or  canvas.  The 
first  day  they  go  to  the  north,  the  second  to  the  west, 
the  third  to  the  south,  and  the  fourth  to  the  east,  for 
this  is  the  ceremonial  circuit  of  the  Hopi.  If  a  suffi 
ciently  large  number  is  not  secured  during  the  four 
days,  snakes  are  sought  in  any  place  and  at  any  time 
until  enough  are  found.  Those  used  are  chiefly  rattle 
snakes  but  bull  snakes  and  others  are  also  employed. 
The  snakes  are  usually  found  by  following  their  trails 
in  the  dust.  If  a  snake  is  uncoiled  a  little  corn  meal 
is  thrown  toward  it;  it  is  seized  by  the  neck,  stroked 
gently,  and  placed  in  a  bag.  Should  the  snake  coil, 
a  prayer  is  said  and  tobacco  smoke  is  blown  toward  it 
until  it  uncoils.  If  the  trail  of  the  snake  leads  to  a 
hole  it  is  dug  out  with  a  digging-stick.  The  snakes 
gathered  are  confined  in  pottery  vessels  in  the  kiva 
until  they  are  wanted  for  the  ceremony. 

Both  the  snake  and  the  antelope  priests  make  altars 
in  their  kivas.  The  snake  altar  is  made  at  Oraibi 


118  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

on  the  evening  of  the  first  day.  The  head-priest 
brings  into  the  kiva  two  wooden  images  of  great  ap 
parent  antiquity.  The  larger  represents  Pookong, 
the  elder  of  the  war  god  twins;  the  smaller  may  he 
intended  for  his  brother,  or  for  some  other  divinity. 
Near  these  are  placed  small  images  of  the  panther, 
the  fetish  of  the  warriors  and  hunters.  At  Walpi,  and 
at  Oraibi  if  a  candidate  is  to  be  initiated,  a  sand  painting 
is  also  made.  This  has  a  picture  of  a  panther  in  the 
center,  a  snake  on  each  of  the  four  sides,  and  a  frame  of 
four  colored  bands.  Although  each  band  extends 
entirely  around  the  painting  the  outer  one  which  is 
yellow  represents  the  north;  the  second,  the  green  one, 
the  west;  the  third,  red,  the  south;  and  the  inner  one, 
which  is  white,  the  east.  These  are  the  colors  which 
are  always  associated  with  the  world  quarters  by  the 
Hopi. 

The  antelope  altar  is  made  in  another  kiva  on  the 
fifth  day  of  the  ceremony.  The  painting  consists  of  a 
number  of  semicircular  cloud  terraces,  with  a  similar 
border  of  colored  bands.  On  two  sides  are  rows  of 
sticks,  some  of  them  curved,  which  represent  the  de 
ceased  members  of  the  order.  At  the  back  of  the  altar 
are  the  fetishes  and  the  tiponi,  the  society  symbol, 
kept  by  the  head  of  the  order  as  a  badge  of  his  office. 
Around  this  altar  a  most  important  rite  is  held.  One 
of  the  priests  and  a  woman  relative  of  some  member 
are  especially  dressed  and  impersonate  antelope  man 
and  antelope  maiden.  The  snake  priests  enter  bring 
ing  a  snake  which  the  antelope  man  holds  during  the 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  119 

ceremony.  The  priests  smoke,  blowing  the  smoke 
toward  the  altar;  clouds  of  tobacco  smoke  are  also 
blown  from  a  cloud  blower;  and  a  priest  appointed 
for  the  purpose  sprinkles  a  specially  prepared  liquid 
upward  and  over  the  altar.  Many  prayers  are  uttered 
and  eight  songs  are  sung.  This  ceremony  is  repeated 
each  morning  after  the  fifth,  throughout  the  ceremony. 
A  messenger  is  sent  out  each  afternoon  with  prayer 
offerings  to  be  placed  on  the  various  shrines.  The 
first  day  he  visits  the  most  distant  ones  making  a 
circuit  of  many  miles;  on  the  three  remaining  days 
the  distances  are  decreased.  On  the  afternoon  of  the 
seventh  day  water  is  brought  by  a  messenger  from  a 
distant  spring.  Before  the  water  is  taken  a  prayer- 
stick  is  set  up  and  the  following  prayer  is  uttered :  — 

"Now,  then,  this  here  (prayer  offerings)  I  have  brought  for  you. 
With  this  I  have  come  to  fetch  you.  Hence,  being  arrayed  in  this, 
thus  rain  on  our  crops!  Then  will  these  corn-stalks  be  growing  up  by 
that  rain;  when  they  mature,  we  shall  be  glad  over  them.  Then  these 
our  animals  when  they  eat  will  also  be  happy  over  it.  Then  all  living 
things  will  be  in  good  condition.  Therefore  do  we  thus  go  to  the  trouble 
of  assembling  Hence  it  must  be  thus.  Therefore  have  pity  on  us. 
Now  let  us  go!  We  shall  all  go.  There  let  no  one  keep  any  one  back. 
You  all  follow  me."  (Voth,  320.) 

In  the  early  morning  of  the  two  last  days  of  the 
ceremony,  two  snake  priests  dressed  as  warriors  pass 
four  times  around  each  of  the  kivas  and  enter  them. 
They  have  in  their  hands  bullr oarers  and  lightning 
frames.  The  first  are  sticks  fastened  to  a  string  which 
when  rapidly  whirled  make  a  noise  like  falling  rain. 
The  lightning  frames  consist  of  a  series  of  crossed  sticks 


120 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


so  joined  that  they  may  be  quickly  projected  to  a 
considerable  distance  and  then  rapidly  returned. 
These  warriors  and  the  messenger  who  has  brought 
the  water  the  day  before,  go  down  on  the  plain  a  mile 
or  two  from  the  village.  The  messenger  first  makes 
cloud  symbols,  deposits  a  prayer-stick  and  utters  a 
prayer  at  four  places  some  distance  apart.  When 


Snake  and  Antelope  Priests. 
(Photo,   by  Howard  McCormick.) 


he  reaches  the  fourth  place  the  two  warriors  advance 
toward  him,  swinging  their  bullroarers  and  shooting 
out  the  lightning  frames.  When  they  reach  the  fourth 
place  of  offering,  the  runners  start  toward  the  village. 
The  first  one  passing  the  messenger  is  given  the  netted 
gourd  containing  the  water  brought  from  the  distant 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  121 

spring.  This  he  must  surrender  to  any  one  passing 
him  so  that  the  winner  arrives  with  it  at  the  village. 
As  the  runners  approach  the  mesa,  they  are  joined  on 
the  eighth  morning  by  antelope  priests  and  on  the 
ninth  morning  by  snake  priests.  Boys  follow  them  up 
the  mesa  trails  with  freshly  cut  corn  stalks.  When  the 
runners  have  passed,  the  girls  of  the  village  snatch 
these  corn  stalks  from  the  boys  and  carry  them  to  the 
houses  to  be  used  as  decorations. 

About  noon  of  the  ninth  day  an  interesting  feature 
of  the  ceremony  takes  place  in  the  snake  kiva.  A 
liquid  is  prepared  in  a  vessel  kept  for  the  purpose  and 
the  snakes  are  dipped  into  it.  At  Oraibi  they  are 
placed  on  some  sand  to  dry  in  the  sun  where  at  that 
hour  it  shines  through  the  hatchway.  At  Walpi, 
however,  they  are  thrown  with  considerable  violence 
upon  the  sand  painting  of  the  altar. 

Public  performances  in  the  plaza  take  place  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  days.  The  antelope 
priests  first  come  from  their  kiva,  and  go  in  procession 
four  times  around  the  plaza.  As  they  pass  in  front  of 
a  booth  which  has  been  provided  for  the  snakes,  each 
man  stamps  on  a  plank  which  has  been  placed  there  to 
represent  the  place  of  exit  from  the  lower  world. 
When  the  fourfold  circuit  has  been  completed,  they 
form  in  a  line  at  either  side  of  the  booth.  The  snake 
priests  then  come  out  and  make  a  similar  circuit  four 
times  around  the  plaza  and  form  in  a  line  facing  the 
booth  and  the  antelope  priests.  Each  line  is  led  by  its 
head-priest.  The  antelope  priest  is  also  accompanied 
by  a  sprinkler  who  carries  a  vessel  filled  with  liquid. 


122 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


On  the  eighth  day,  the  lines  dance  for  some  time 
facing  each  other  and  then  the  sprinkler  goes  to  the 
snake  booth,  takes  a  small  bundle  of  vines  and  corn 
stalks  in  his  mouth  and  dances  with  it  as  if  it  were  a 
snake.  He  is  guarded  by  a  snake  priest.  But  on  the 
ninth  day  after  the  two  lines  of  priests  have  made  the 


Snake  Priests  dancing  with  Snake. 
(Photo,  by  Howard  McCormick.) 

circuit  of  the  plaza  the  snake  priests  go  in  pairs  to  the 
booth.  One  of  each  pair  is  given  a  snake  which  he 
holds  in  his  mouth.  His  companion  follows  by  his 
side  with  a  snake  whip  with  which  he  is  prepared  to 
soothe  the  snake  and  attract  its  attention  should  there 
be  need.  They  move  in  this  way  down  the  plaza  for 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  123 

some  yards  when  the  snake  is  dropped.  Each  pair  of  . 
dancers  is  followed  by  a  third  snake  priest  who  picks  up 
the  snakes  as  they  fall  and  keeps  them  in  his  hands. 
When  his  hands  are  full,  he  passes  some  of  them  to  the 
antelope  priests  who  are  still  in  line.  The  dancers  re 
turn  for  additional  snakes  until  the  entire  number,  fifty 
or  more,  have  been  carried  in  the  dance.  The  head  snake 
priest  then  makes  a  large  circle  of  corn  meal  and  draws 
six  radii  which  represent  the  world  quarters.  Into  this 
circle  the  snakes  are  thrown  in  a  heap  and  the  women 
sprinkle  them  plentifully  with  corn  meal.  At  a  given 
signal  the  snake  priests  approach,  grab  as  many  snakes 
as  they  can  hold  in  each  hand,  run  down  the  trails  to 
the  plain,  and  release  the  snakes. 

In  alternate  years  the  flute  ceremony  is  held  in  the 
place  of  the  snake  dance.  This  ceremony  is  given  by 
two  orders,  the  blue  and  drab  flute  priests.  The 
final  public  ceremony  takes  place  at  certain  springs  where 
songs  and  prayers  are  rendered.  The  rite  is  charac 
terized  by  playing  on  long  flutes.  An  interesting 
feature  of  the  ceremony  is  the  placing  of  prayer  offer 
ings  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  spring  for  which  pur 
pose  a  priest  enters  it. 

Following  the  snake  and  flute  ceremonies  are  other 
nine   day   ceremonies   given   by   societies   of   women< 
During  the  public  performance  of  one  of  them,   the\ 
Marau,  the  women  carry  in  their  hands  large  wooden  ""^ 
slabs  on  which  kachinas,  cloud  symbols,  and  ears  of 
corn  are  painted.     Following  this  is  the  Ooqol  cere 
mony.     Alternating  with  these  two   ceremonies,   the 


124  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

Lalakonti  dance  is  given.  During  the  public  dance  of 
both  the  Ooqol  and  the  Lalakonti  ceremonies,  darts 
are  thrown  at  netted  wheels  and  basket  trays  are  waved 
in  the  hands  of  the  dancers.  These  trays  are  later  given 
to  the  spectators. 

The  last  of  this  series  of  ceremonies  is  held  in  October 
or  November.  All  the  male  fraternities  join  in  its 
celebration.  The  chief  feature  is  the  making  of  a  new 
fire  by  means  of  a  firedrill.  While  this  is  taking  place, 
the  trails  to  the  village  are  closed  by  drawing  a  line 
of  corn  meal  across  them. 

The  greater  number  of  the  Pueblo  ceremonies  are  for 
the  purpose  of  bringing  rain,  maintaining  the  water  in 
the  springs  and  increasing  the  yield  of  the  fields. 


RELIGIOUS  BELIEFS. 

From  the  bewildering  number  of  supernatural  beings 
believed  in  by  the  sedentary  people,  a  few  stand  out 
with  considerable  clearness.  Of  these,  the  sun  is 
undoubtedly  the  most  important  as  appears  from  the 
offerings  made  and  the  prayers  directed  to  it,  especially 
when  it  is  rising. 

A  goddess  of  all  hard  substances  is  believed  to  live 
in  a  floating  house  in  the  western  ocean.  She  and  her 
counterpart  in  the  eastern  ocean  originated  animals 
and  men  from  cuticle  rubbed  from  their  bodies.  The 
small  image  of  the  desired  being  made  from  this  cuticle 


MODERN    PUEBLOS.  125 

or  from  clay  was  placed  under  a  cloth  and  sung  over 
until  it  was  animated. 

Spider  woman  is  the  originator  of  the  arts  and  the 
wise  counsellor  of  those  in  perplexity.  With  her  live 
twin  grandsons,  diminutive  war  gods,  who  in  the 
beginning  rid  the  world  of  man-eating  monsters,  and 
became  the  patrons  of  the  warrior  societies.  The 
weapons  and  arts  of  warfare  were  given  them  by  the 
thunder  who  is  believed  to  be  bird-like  with  tail  and 
wing  feathers  of  obsidian  which  makes  the  noise  of 
thunder  attributed  to  it. 

The  clouds,  usually  personified,  are  addressed  when 
rain  is  desired.  The  horned  snake,  frequently  figured 
on  pottery,  is  a  water  being  feared  as  well  as  worshiped 
since  it  produces  floods  rather  than  helpful  showers. 
The  world  quarters  are  frequently  personified. 

The  kachinas  are  a  supernatural  race  superior  to 
men  but  inferior  to  the  great  nature  gods.  They  live 
as  men  do  either  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  villages 
or  inside  the  sacred  mountains.  These,  together  with 
the  Koshare  and  the  Cuirana  of  the  Rio  Grande  peoples 
benefit  mankind  by  influencing  the  natural  forces  in 
their  favor,  probably  through  the  instrumentality  of 
ceremonies  similar  to  those  of  mankind. 

For  each  ceremony  there  are  divine  pairs,  like  the 
antelope  man  and  maiden,  who  are  looked  upon  as 
the  originators  of  the  rites. 

One  must  remember,  however,  that  these  beings  are 
seldom  definite  and  well  formulated.  On  the  contrary 
there  is  much  contradiction  and  confusion  concerning 


126  INDIANS   OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 

them.  They  are,  of  course,  reflections  of  nature  and 
images  projected  by  the  human  mind  as  it  reacts 
toward  the  world  and  human  society.  Some  of  them 
are  doubtless  outgrowths  of  the  ceremonies  constructed 
to  give  old  established  religious  practices  a  more 
definite  meaning. 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  NOMADIC  PEOPLES. 

THE  term  nomadic  has  been  used  to  distinguish  those 
in  the  Southwest  who  do  not  live  in  pueblos  from  those 
who  do  live  in  them.  The  name  is  a  useful  one  although 
it  does  not  give  a  correct  impression  concerning  the 
permanency  of  the  homes  of  some  of  the  tribes  treated 
in  this  chapter.  The  nomadic  tribes  of  the  Southwest 
occupied  and  claimed  the  territory  of  that  region  with 
little  regard  to  the  presence  of  the  Pueblo  people. 
They  were  chiefly  hunters,  and  game  was  not  plentiful 
near  the  settled  towns.  They  planted  to  a  considerable 
extent  but  found  ample  room  for  their  fields  without 
encroaching  on  the  farms  of  the  village  people. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

These  nomadic  people  belong  to  four  linguistic  stocks, 
the  Athapascan,  the  Piman,  the  Yuman,  and  the  Sho- 
shonean. 

Athapascan.  In  the  eastern  portion  of  the  territory, 
are  the  Athapascan  tribes  who  speak  languages  related 
to  the  Dene  of  the  north  in  the  Mackenzie  and  Yukon 

127 


128  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

valleys  and  to  the  various  scattered  bands  in  western 
Oregon  and  northwestern  California.  They  are  known 
as  the  Apache,  the  Lipan,  and  the  Navajo.  The  former 
name  was  widely  applied  by  both  the  Spanish  and  the 
Americans  who  succeeded  them  and  was  used  for 
several  distinct  tribes.  In  the  northeast,  are  the 
Jicarilla  Apache  who  are  again  divided  into  two  bands, 
one  of  which,  the  Llanero,  lived  on  the  headwaters  of 
the  Canadian  River  and  in  the  mountains  between 
that  stream  and  the  Rio  Grande.  The  Oiler o  lived 
west  of  the  Rio  Grande  especially  along  the  Chama 
River. 

In  the  mountains  between  the  Rio  Pecos  and  the  Rio 
Grande  south  of  White  Mountain  were  the  Mescalero 
Apache.  They  consisted  of  many  bands,  each  of 
which  claimed  a  rather  definite  locality  as  its  home. 
The  territory  occupied  by  them  extended  southward  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Pecos  but  the  bands  in  the  lower 
part  of  this  region  were  less  closely  allied  to  the  Mesca 
lero  proper  in  political  feeling  and  there  was  a  slight 
difference  in  dialect.  West  of  the  Rio  Grande  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Mimbres  was  an  Apache  tribe  now  nearly 
extinct.  They  formerly  were  called  the  Mimbrenos 
but  are  better  known  from  their  great  war  leader, 
Victorio.  When  he  was  defeated  a  part  of  his  band 
joined  the  Mescalero  and  others  united  with  the  tribes 
west  of  them.  The  Apache  living  on  the  headwaters 
of  the  Gila  River  are  known  as  the  Chiricahua.  This 
tribe  really  consisted  of  four  almost  independent  bands, 
each  with  a  chief.  These  are  the  Indians  who  have 


THE   NOMADIC   PEOPLES.  129 

made  the  name  of  Apache  so  widely  known.  They  had 
robbed  the  Mexican  settlements  for  many  years  before 
the  American  occupation.  When  later  they  were 
deprived  of  their  native  lands  and  placed  on  a  reserva 
tion,  they  fled  to  Mexico  where  they  lived  by  plundering 
on  either  side  of  the  international  boundary  line. 
Their  most  noted  chiefs  were  Magnas  Coloradas,  Whoa, 
Cochise,  and  Geronimo.  The  last  named  with  a  larger 
part  of  his  band  surrendered  to  General  Miles  in  1886. 
They  were  taken  with  their  families  as  prisoners  of  war 
to  Florida.  After  less  than  a  year  they  were  removed 
to  Alabama  and  finally  were  given  a  place  on  a  reserva 
tion  at  Fort  Sill,  Oklahoma.  Arrangements  are  now 
being  made  for  the  return  of  their  descendants  to  their 
western  homes. 

The  name  San  Carlos  has  been  applied  to  the  Apache 
bands  gathered  on  a  reservation  of  that  name.  They 
formerly  lived  on  the  San  Carlos  River,  on  the  Gila 
River  near  the  mouth  of  the  San  Carlos,  on  Arivaipa 
Creek  which  flows  into  the  San  Pedro,  a  southern 
tributary  of  the  Gila,  and  about  certain  springs  west  of 
the  town  of  Globe,  Arizona. 

On  the  White  River,  which  is  one  of  the  main  tribu 
taries  of  the  Salt  River,  were  a  number  of  bands  of 
Apache  quite  similar  in  all  respects  to  those  last  men 
tioned.  These  have  often  been  called  the  Coyotero 
because  they  were  looked  upon  as  wild,  but  are  now 
generally  spoken  of  as  the  White  Mountain  Apache. 

The  Salt  River  receives  a  considerable  tributary  from 
the  north  called  Tonto  Creek.  Near  the  head  of  this 


130  INDIANS   OF  THE    SOUTHWEST. 

stream  there  is  a  large  valley  known  as  Tonto  Basin. 
A  tribe  occupied  this  valley  so  well  isolated  from  other 
Apache  that  a  dialectic  difference  in  language  was 
developed.  They  were  closely  associated  with  the 
Yavapai  who  are  Yuman  in  their  speech.  These  two 
peoples  were  placed  on  the  San  Carlos  Reservation 
where  they  remained  until  recently. 

The  Navajo,  called  by  the  Spanish  Apaches  de 
Navajo,  occupy  nearly  all  the  region  between  the 
San  Juan  and  the  Little  Colorado  Rivers  and  roam  far 
beyond  that  territory  in  all  directions.  In  language 
they  are  not  very  different  from  the  Western  Apache, 
but  in  culture  they  are  fairly  distinct.  Just  prior  to 
the  American  occupation,  they  were  almost  constantly 
raiding  the  Mexican  settlements  of  New  Mexico. 
They  killed  their  first  Indian  agent  and  resisted  Ameri 
can  control.  A  large  number  of  the  tribe  were  taken 
prisoners  and  removed  to  Fort  Sumner  on  the  Pecos 
River  where  they  were  confined  for  some  years. 

Piman.  Below  the  Apache  on  the  Gila  and  Salt 
Rivers  lived  the  Pima  who  speak  a  language,  of  the 
Piman  stock,  so  named  from  them.  They  claimed  the 
Gila  River  from  the  San  Pedro  westward  to  its  junction 
with  the  Salt  River  near  which  place  their  principal 
villages  were  located.  They  were  the  enemies  of  the 
Apache  and  considerable  territory  between  the  two 
peoples  was  not  actually  settled  for  that  reason.  South 
of  the  Gila,  far  into  Old  Mexico,  live  the  Papago 
whose  language  is  closely  related  to  that  of  the  Pima. 
Since  they  live  rather  on  the  wild  products  of  the 


THE   NOMADIC   PEOPLES.  131 

desert  than  upon  agriculture  they  are  less  settled  in 
their  habits. 

Yuman.  With  the  Pima  live  the  Maricopa  who 
came  to  them  from  the  mouth  of  the  Gila  River  in 
historic  times.  They  are  now  nearly  identical  in 
culture  with  the  Pima  but  their  language  is  Yuman. 
There  is  another  tribe  speaking  a  Yuman  language,  the 
Yavapai,  who  seem  to  have  lived  for  centuries  along 
the  Rio  Verde.  They  have  often  been  locally  called 
Apache,  or,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Athapascan; 
tribes  with  whom  they  are  friendly,  Mohave  Apache. 

Of  the  same  linguistic  stock  are  the  Havasupai  who> 
have  their  villages  in  the  canyon  of  Cataract  Creek,  a 
few  miles  southwest  of  the  Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colo 
rado.  They  are  close  friends  of  the  Hopi  and  seem 
to  resemble  them  in  some  respects  although  they  do- 
not  build  terraced  houses. 

The  Walapai,  also  of  the  same  linguistic  stock,  live 
in  the  territory  included  in  the  great  bend  of  the 
Colorado  where  it  swings  from  the  west  toward  the 
south. 

Along  the  Colorado  itself  are  the  Mohave  who 
formerly  lived  from  the  Nevada  line  southward  half 
way  to  the  mouth  of  that  river.  The  Yuma  live  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Colorado  where  it  receives  the  waters 
of  the  Gila.  The  last  two  tribes,  while  they  are  cut  off 
from  the  California  tribes  by  the  Mohave  desert,  in 
some  ways  resemble  them  and  are  not  particularly  like 
the  other  peoples  of  the  Southwest.  They  have 
adapted  themselves  to  the  peculiar  conditions  imposed 
by  their  river  valley  home. 


132  INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

Shoshonean.  North  of  the  San  Juan  and  at  its  head 
waters  are  the  Southern  Ute  whose  language  is  Sho 
shonean,  connected  with  the  Hopi.  They  are  within 
the  territory  which  has  been  included  in  this  handbook 
because  in  it  are  some  of  the  most  important  ruins  and 
other  evidences  of  its  having  once  been  a  part  of  this 
culture  area. 

Between  Bill  William  Creek  and  the  Needles  a  band 
of  Shoshonean  speaking  people,  the  Chemehuevi, 
formerly  lived,  occupying  both  sides  of  the  Colorado. 
They  were  friends  of  their  Yuman  speaking  neighbors 
and  probably  settled  among  them  a  century  or  more 
ago  as  the  Maricopa  are  known  to  have  done  among 
the  Pima. 

SHELTER. 

These  nomadic  tribes  do  not  show  a  great  degree  of 
uniformity  either  in  their  material  culture  or  in  their 
religion.  We  shall  find  their  houses,  then*  methods  of 
securing  food,  and  their  social  habits  changing  as  we 
pass  from  tribe  to  tribe. 

Both  of  the  eastern  bands  of  the  Apache,  the  Jicarilla 
and  the  Mescalero,  and  also  the  Ute,  lived  in  skin- 
covered  tipis  which  differ  in  no  important  respect  from 
those  used  by  the  Plains  Indians.  The  Mescalero 
sometimes  make  brush  shelters  as  well,  and  perhaps 
always  made  a  practice  of  using  them  when  they  were 
in  the  mountains.  When  on  the  treeless  plains  nothing 
was  so  desirable  as  an  easily  portable  dwelling  of  skins 
or  canvas. 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES. 


133 


All  of  the  Apache  west  of  the  Rio  Grande  made 
houses  which  had  frames  of  poles,  covered  with  a  thatch 
of  weeds  or  grass.  The  prevailing  type  among  the 
San  Carlos  Apache  is  dome-shaped.  When  the  house 
is  small,  the  frame  is  made  by  setting  poles  a  few  inches 
in  the  ground  in  a  circle,  bending  their  tops  over,  and 
lashing  them  together.  These  poles  are  held  in  the 


San  Carlos  Apache  Women  building  a  House. 

proper  curves  by  horizontal  ones  lashed  to  them. 
When  a  larger  house  is  needed,  poles  are  first  placed 
forming  a  series  of  arches  which  overlap  each  other 
and  together  complete  a  circle  except  for  the  doorway. 
These  arches  support  the  main  ribs  running  from  the 
ground  to  the  apex.  The  thatch,  which  is  usually 


134 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


bear  grass,  is  applied  in  regular,  overlapping  courses 
and  is  bound  in  place  with  strips  of  yucca  leaves. 
The  White  Mountain  Apache  houses  frequently  have 
two  long  sloping  sides  meeting  in  a  line  above,  like  an 
ordinary  gable  roof.  In  recent  years,  corn  stalks  and 
the  limbs  of  trees  are  frequently  used  for  thatching 
with  the  additional  protection  of  a  strip  of  canvas. 


White  Mountain  Apache  House. 

The  houses  of  the  Pima  have  a  frame  in  the  center 
consisting  of  four  posts  set  in  the  ground  at  the  corners 
of  a  square  ten  to  twelve  feet  apart.  The  posts  are 
forked  at  the  top  and  support  two  logs  on  which  many 
smaller  poles  rest.  Around  this  framework  a  dome- 
shaped  light  frame  is  constructed  similar  to  that 
employed  by  the  Apache.  The  house  is  thatched  with 
arrowbush  brush  and  the  roof  is  generally  covered  with 


THE    NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  135 

earth  to  a  depth  of  eight  or  ten  inches.  The  sides  are 
also  sometimes  banked  with  earth.  No  opening  is 
left  for  the  smoke  to  escape  but  because  of  the  climate 
fires  are  seldom  needed  in  the  houses.  The  Papago 
houses  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Pima. 

The  Mohave  houses  have  an  inner  frame  similar  to 
that  employed  in  the  Pima  houses  but  the  outer  portion 
is  rectangular  with  low  vertical  walls.  The  sides  and 


Navajo  House. 

roofs  are  thatched  and  the  roof  also  has  a  layer  of  sand. 
The  Navajo  live  in  winter  in  earth-covered  lodges. 
The  house  has  for  its  chief  support  three  large  logs  with 
forked  tops.  These  are  locked  together  by  placing 
the  fork  of  one  in  the  fork  of  a  second,  and  thrusting 
the  fork  of  the  third  between  them.  Other  logs  and 
small  poles  are  laid  on  these  until  a  conical  house  is 
enclosed.  Brush  is  placed  in  the  larger  cracks  and 


136  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

earth  is  piled  on  to  a  depth  of  several  inches.  Such 
a  house  leaks  only  after  a  long  hard  rain.  A  doorway 
is  made  on  the  east  side  and  between  the  doorway  and 
the  apex  a  large  hole  is  left  to  admit  light  and  air  and 
through  which  the  smoke  may  escape.  Six-sided 
houses  are  also  built  of  logs  placed  horizontally.  By 
drawing  them  in  gradually  after  the  walls  have  been 
carried  to  a  proper  height,  the  roof  is  formed.  A 
smoke  hole  is  left  at  the  apex.  During  the  summer  the 
Navajo  generally  camp  with  only  a  shelter  of  brush  or  a 
stone  wall  to  protect  them  from  the  prevailing  winds. 


FOOD  SUPPLY. 

The  nomadic  tribes  had  a  large  territory  at  their  dis 
posal.  There  were  fertile  and  fairly  well  watered  river 
valleys  where  corn  and  beans  could  be  raised  and  vast 
tracts  of  upland  covered,  if  sparsely,  with  a  varied 
vegetation.  Judging  from  the  number  of  cattle  and 
sheep  which  that  region  now  supports,  before  their 
introduction  there  must  have  been  sufficient  food  for 
many  deer,  antelope,  and  elk.  A  few  days'  travel  east 
from  the  Rio  Grande  were  the  buffalo  plains  with  a 
supply  of  meat  limited  only  by  the  means  of  trans 
porting  it. 

Corn  was  planted  by  all  the  tribes;  but  the  Eastern 
Apache,  the  Jicarilla  and  Mescalero,  depended  but 
little  upon  agriculture.  That  the  Navajo  formerly 
had  large  fields  was  stated  by  Benavides  who  gave  that 


THE   NOMADIC   PEOPLES. 


137 


fact  as  the  explanation  of  their  name.  The  methods 
employed  seem  not  to  have  differed  particularly  from 
those  of  the  village  Indians.  The  corn  was  planted  in 
irregularly  spaced  bunches,  rather  than  in  rows. 
The  Mohave  and  Yuma  planted  in  soil  freshly  de 
posited  each  year  by  the  overflow  of  the  Colorado,  and 


Jicarilla  Woman  gathering  Mescal. 

did  not  make  use  of   irrigation,  as   did  nearly  if  not 
all  other  tribes. 

The  nomadic  people  made  extensive  use  of  the  wild 
vegetable  products.  The  pifion  produces  large  crops 
of  nuts  which  the  woodrats  gather.  It  is  only  necessary 
to  rob  their  nests  to  secure  an  abundant  supply.  The 
mesquite  grows  in  most  localities  and  furnishes  edible 


138  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

pods  when  they  are  green  and  later  bean-like  seeds 
which  are  pounded  into  flour.  The  amole,  Yucca 
baccata,  has  a  banana-shaped  fruit  which  is  cooked  in 
the  ashes,  and  may  then  be  dried  for  later  use.  The 
agave,  a  century  plant,  furnishes  a  large  bulk  of  nutri 
tious  food.  The  plants  are  watched  until  signs  of  the 
flowering  stalk  appear  when  they  are  seven  or  eight 
years  old.  The  entire  plant  is  severed  near  the  base  by 
means  of  a  chisel-shaped  stick  which  is  hammered  with 
a  stone.  The  plant  is  then  turned  top  down  and 


Mescal  Knife.    San  Carlos  Apache. 

trimmed  with  a  broad  knife  of  native  manufacture. 
A  leaf  or  two  is  left  for  a  handle  by  which  the  stumps 
are  carried  to  a  long  deep  pit  used  year  after  year. 
This  pit  is  thoroughly  heated  and  filled  with  stumps, 
A  covering  of  earth  is  thrown  over  them  and  a  fire 
maintained  on  top  for  a  day  or  more.  The  cooked 
material  is  dried  in  the  sun  and  packed  in  bales  for 
transportation  to  the  camp.  This  food,  while  coarse, 
is  not  unpalatable. 

There  are  many  species  of  cacti,  most  of  which  have 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  139 

edible  fruit.  The  giant  cactus,  which  grows  on  the 
lower  elevations,  because  of  its  great  size  yields  abun 
dantly.  The  fruit  is  pressed  in  large  balls  which  keep 
indefinitely.  These  contain  many  black  seeds  which 
are  separated  by  soaking  and  ground  for  flour.  There 
are  many  berries,  seeds  of  grasses  and  sunflowers,  nuts, 
and  bulbs,  which  add  considerably  to  the  required 
food  supply. 

The  Eastern  Apache  made  regular  trips  to  the 
buffalo  plains,  at  the  times  of  the  year  when  the  buffalo 
were  driven  south  by  the  cold.  They  killed  a  large 
number,  dried  the  meat,  and  packed  it  in  bags,  or 
parfleches,  made  of  the  hides  of  the  animals  killed. 
These  were  tied  on  the  backs  of  horses  for  transporta 
tion. 

Men  went  out  singly  to  hunt  deer  and  antelope 
wearing  a  headdress  with  the  horns  of  the  animals  that 
they  might  approach  them  more  readily.  There  were 
communal  hunts  for  elk  particularly.  The  leader  of 
the  hunt  placed  the  men  at  the  points  that  commanded 
the  passageways  and  trails  and  the  animals  were 
driven  toward  them.  Corrals  were  also  used  into 
which  the  antelope  were  driven. 

The  Athapascan  tribes,  except  the  Lipan,  never  eat 
fish  or  waterfowl.  The  taboo  is  explained  by  the 
Indians  as  due  to  a  fear  of  water  which  is  connected 
with  the  thunder.  The  Mohave  appear  to  be  the  only 
tribe  making  much  use  of  fish  for  food. 

For  some  years  before  and  after  the  American 
-  occupation  of  the  region  the  Western  Apache  and  the 


140  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

Navajo  lived  to  a  large  extent  on  the  cattle,  sheep, 
horses,  mules,  and  burros  they  were  able^to  drive  off 
in  the  settlements.  The  Navajo  alone  of;  the  nomadic 
tribes,  raised  sheep  for  food  and  wool. 

CLOTHING. 

The  Jicarilla  Apache  wore  buckskin  clothing  similar 
to  that  of  the  Plains.  The  Mescalero  and  the  Western 
Apache  women  had  dresses  in  two  parts,  the  upper 
garment  had  an  opening  for  the  head  and  two  large 
square  portions  which  fell  in  front  and  behind  to  the 
hips.  A  skirt  reached  from  the  waist  to  the  knees  and 
was  generously  provided  with  fringes  of  buckskin. 
Less  is  known  of  the  men's  clothing.  It  seems  to  have 
been  scanty,  except  on  festive  occasions,  and  in  winter. 
A  shirt  and  leggings  were  probably  worn,  with  a  robe 
of  skins  for  winter. 

The  Pima  man  wore  and  still  wears  only  a  scant 
breech  cloth  in  the  summer.  In  winter  he  used  to  add 
a  deerskin  shirt  and  a  robe  usually  of  rabbitskins.  The 
women  wear  a  cotton  blanket  which  they  fold  round 
the  waist  or  raise  around  the  neck  in  cold  weather. 
The  Pima  are  the  only  people  of  the  Southwest  who 
still  wear  sandals.  In  prehistoric  times,  sandals  of 
rawhide  or  of  yucca  fiber,  as  described  and  figured  in 
previous  pages,  were  worn  over  the  entire  area.  The 
Pima  make  them  only  of  rawhide  and  wear  them  about 
their  homes.  When  away  from  home,  moccasins  of 
buckskin  are  sometimes  used. 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES. 


141 


The  Mohave  women  wear  skirts  made  of  the  inner 
bark  of  the  willow.  The  Navajo  men  sometimes  wore 
shirts  and  trousers  with  full  length  legs  of  buckskin. 


Mescalero  Girl  in  Native  Costume. 

These  were  variously  colored  by  dyeing,  usually  green 
or  red.  When  cloth  became  more  easily  procurable, 
white  cotton  trousers  with  the  lower  part  of  the  legs 


142 


INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


Navajo  Man. 
(Photo,   by  Howard   McCormick.) 


THE    NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  143 

slit  on  the  outer  side  were  adopted.  The  upper  gar 
ment  was  preferably  of  velveteen  and  answered  the 
purpose  of  both  shirt  and  blouse.  A  handkerchief  or 
colored  strip  of  cloth  is  worn  about  the  head  to  confine 
the  hair.  The  moccasins  which  are  colored  brown 
come  up  around  the  ankle  where  they  are  fastened  by 
a  silver  button.  The  robe,  until  recently,  was  the 
woolen  blanket  manufactured  by  the  Navajo  women 
of  the  type  now  generally  called  a  "  chief." 

The  women  wore  a  dress  consisting  of  two  rectangular 
pieces  of  woolen  goods  sewed  up  the  sides  and  part  way 
across  one  end,  openings  being  left  for  the  neck  and 
arms.  The  decorations  of  these  dresses  were  of  a 
peculiar  sort,  restricted  to  the  two  ends  and  symmetri 
cally  arranged.  Leggings  of  black  wool  are  worn  and 
buckskin  moccasins  over  these. 

Both  men  and  women  wear  much  silver  jewelry  of 
native  manufacture.  Necklaces  and  belts  are  the 
most  elaborate  but  the  bracelets  and  the  finger  rings 
set  with  turquoise  are  attractively  made. 


INDUSTRIAL  ARTS. 

Pottery.  All  the  nomadic  peoples  appear  originally 
to  have  made  crude  pottery.  The  Jicarilla  Apache, 
the  Navajo,  and  the  Pima  and  Papago,  still  make  what 
is  required  for  household  purposes.  The  Jicarilla  in 
former  days  were  rather  noted  for  the  excellent  cooking 
pots  which  they  made.  Their  ware  was  never  painted 


144 


INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 


and  was  without  decoration  other  than  ridges  or  series 

of  points  modeled  in  low 
relief  usually  near  the  top. 
The  vessels  are  made  in  a 
similar  manner  to  that  em 
ployed  by  the  Pueblo  peo 
ples  but  they  are  fired  with 
pine  bark  which  gives  them 
a  lustreless  black  surface. 
As  the  pots  cool  they  are 
coated  with  pinon  gum 


San  Carlos  Apache  Tray. 


which  is  said  to  prevent  their  breaking. 

The  Navajo  make  vessels  similar  in  appearance. 
They  are  usually  cylindrical  in  shape  and  with  buck 
skin  stretched  over  them  are  used  in  ceremonies  for 
drums. 

The  Pima  and  Papago,  having  built  up  their  vessels 
by  the  usual  method  mold  them  with  a  paddle  applied 
to  the  outside  while  a  curved  stone  is  held  inside  to 
preserve  the  shape.  They  are  polished  with  smooth 
stones  and  then  given  a  slip 
of  shale  which  contains  red 
ochre.  The  burning  is  done 
in  a  [small  pit,  mesquite 
brush  or  decayed  willow 
sticks  being  used  for  fuel. 
The  designs  are  painted  on 
after  the  first  burning  with 
gum  obtained  from  the  mes 
quite  for  paint.  This  is  pale  when  applied  but  after  a 


Jicarilla  Tray. 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  145 

few  minutes  of  refiring  becomes  deep  black.  Vessels 
are  sometimes  given  a  coating  of  white  clay  on  which 
designs  in  black  are  painted.  The  vessels  most  in  de 
mand  are  large  pots  which  are  supported  on  three- 
branched  sticks  and  placed  in  the  shade  for  the  storage 
of  drinking  water.  The  ware  is  sufficiently  porous  to 
allow  rapid  evaporation  which  keeps  the  water  delight 
fully  cool. 

The  pottery  of  the  nomadic  peoples  as  compared 
with  that  of  the  village  peoples  is  very  inferior  in 
appearance  and  variety  but  is  well  adapted  to  the 
limited  household  uses  to  which  it  is  put. 

Basketry.  It  is  in  basketry  that  the  mechanical  and 
artistic  skill  of  the  nomadic  peoples  is  best  displayed. 
The  baskets  of  both  the  Jicarilla  and  the  Mescalero  are 
quite  different  from  those  made  by  the  Western  Apache, 
the  Yavapai,  and  the  Pima.  The  Jicarilla  baskets  are 
of  the  coiled  or  sewed  sort,  the  foundation  is  of  a  single 
twig  of  sumach  or  willow.  The  sewing  material  is 
made  from  similar  twigs  by  splitting  them  into  three 
parts  and  separating  the  sap  wood  from  the  heart. 
The  sap  portion,  which  is  that  used,  is  trimmed  to* the 
proper  size  and  that  required  for  designs  is  dyed.  The 
old  dyes  were  made  from  the  root  bark  of  the  mountain 
mahogany  which  gives  a  red  and  the  root  of  the  barberry 
which  gives  yellow.  At  the  present  time  aniline  dyes 
are  used  and  the  colors  are  gaudy  and  varied. 

The  patterns  are  geometrical:  triangles,  rectangles, 
and  bands.  The  names  of  these  designs  indicate  that 
they  represent  certain  natural  objects  such  as  moun- 


146  INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

tains,  houses,  plots  of  ground,  trails,  and  gates.  It  is 
seldom,  however,  that  they  are  combined  in  such  a  way 
as  to  make  a  connected  composition.  The  Jicarilla  at 
the  present  time  make  almost  no  use  of  baskets  except 


Mescalero  Unfinished  Basket. 


water  jars.  These  are  made  of  close  coiling  in  the 
shape  of  a  jug.  The  inside  is  coated  with  piiion  pitch 
which  has  had  its  consistency  reduced  by  boiling. 
This  renders  the  vessel  water-tight  and  provides  an 


THE   NOMADIC   PEOPLES. 


147 


easily  cleaned  surface.  The  outside  is  kept  white  by 
frequent  applications  of  white  earth.  Two  loops  of 
leather  or  hair  are  made  on  one  side  through  which  the 
carrying  strap  passes. 

The  Mescalero  also  make  coiled  baskets  but  since 
they  use  two  rods  side  by  side  in  each  coil  of  the  founda 
tion  their  baskets  have  quite  a  different  appearance. 
The  material  used  for  sewing  is  obtained  chiefly  by 


Jicarilla  and  San  Carlos  Apache  Baskets. 

splitting  the  leaves  of  the  narrow-leaved  yucca.  These 
are  used  green,  partly  bleached  to  a  yellow  or  entirely 
bleached  to  white.  A  red  material  is  obtained  from 
the  root  of  the  yucca.  These  decorated  baskets  are 
made  principally  for  sale  although  they  are  used  to 
some  extent  for  storage.  The  water  jars  are  similar  in 


148 


INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


shape  to  those  made  by  the  Jicarilla  but  they  are 
frequently  pitched  on  the  outside  as  well  as  inside. 
Burden  or  carrying  baskets  are  still  in  common  use. 
They  are  made  by  varied  processes  of  twining  which 
produce  decorative  effects.  The  material  most  de- 


Pima  Trays. 

sired  is  mulberry  the  twigs  of  which  are  exceedingly 
durable.  In  most  cases  the  women  do  not  assign  such 
names  to  the  designs  as  would  lead  one  to  think  the 
patterns  are  intended  to  be  symbolic.  One  old  woman, 
however,  pointed  out  on  a  very  crude  basket  the  milky 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  149 

way,  morningstar,  and  a  rainbow.  These  particular 
things  are  considered  very  sacred;  and  in  spite  of  the 
denials  of  many  of  the  women  it  is  probable  that  Mesca- 
lero  baskets  do  often  have  symbols  on  them  which  are 
expected  to  benefit  the  users  of  the  basket. 

The  basket  makers  of  Arizona,  the  Apache,  Yavapai, 
Pima  and  Papago,  make  baskets  in  black  and  white 
exclusively.  The  Apache  and  Yavapai  baskets  are 
made  on  a  single  rod,  coiled  foundation,  either  of  aroma 
tic  sumach  or  willow.  The  warp  or  sewing  material, 
is  of  sumach,  willow,  or  cottonwood,  and  is  prepared  as 
has  been  described  above.  No  dyes  are  employed, 
but  for  black,  the  outer  portion  of  the  dried  pods  of  the 
martynia,  sometimes  called  devil's  claw,  is  used.  The 
patterns  are  continuous,  radiating  from  the  center  in 
zigzags  or  in  bands  encircling  the  basket.  They  are 
usually  geometrical  and  apparently  are  not  symbolic. 
The  Yavapai,  who  of  those  named,  perhaps  produce  the 
most  beautiful  baskets,  frequently  depict  men  and 
animals,  conventionalized  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
basket  work.  Carrying  baskets  of  the  Western  Apache 
are  twined  and  are  made  of  the  same  materials  em 
ployed  by  the  Mescalero.  In  twining,  two  rods  of  the 
foundation  are  enclosed  each  time  between  the  twists 
of  the  twining  strands.  Strips  and  fringes  of  buckskin 
are  usually  used  on  these  baskets.  They  generally 
make  their  water  jars  by  twining.  They  give  them  a 
coat  of  red  ochre  and  finely  pounded  juniper  leaves 
before  the  pinon  pitch  is  applied. 

The  baskets  of  the  Pima  and  Papago  which  closely 


150 


INDIANS    OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 


resemble  those  of  the  Apache  in  appearance  are  made 
with  a  bundle  of  finely  divided  leaves  of  bear  grass  or 
cattail  reeds  for  the  coiled  foundation.  The  sewing 
materials  are  similar  to  those  used  by  the  Apache 


Pima  Storage  Basket. 

except  that  the  Papago  often  use  yucca  leaves  in 
baskets  intended  for  sale.  The  designs  resemble  those 
found  on  Apache  baskets  except  that  the  bands  are 
usually  narrower. 


THE    NOMADIC    PEOPLES. 


151 


The  Pima  and  Papago  also  made  large  storage  baskets, 
six  feet  or  more  in  diameter.  The  foundation  is  a  large 
bundle  of  wheat  straw  coiled  spirally,  the  coils  being 
bound  together  by  frequent  wrappings  of  tough  bark 
strands.  These  two  tribes  also  make  plaited  baskets 


Papago  Plaited  Basket. 

.and  mats,  using  for  the  purpose  the  leaves  of  the  sotol, 
a  yucca-like  plant.  In  place  of  the  carrying  basket  they 
used  a  net  made  of  agave  fiber  twine.  This  is  stretched 
on  a  frame  of  sticks  which  keeps  it  in  proper  form  for 
carrying  on  the  back. 

Few  basket-makers  excel  the  Chemehuevi  in  the 
technical  perfection  and  pleasing  decoration  which 
their  baskets  display.  They  resemble  in  a  general 
way  the  baskets  of  their  neighbors. 


152 


INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 


Weaving.  It  is  not  known  that  any  of  the  nomadic 
peoples  with  the  exception  of  the  Pima  and  Papago 
raised  cotton  or  manufactured  cloth  by  weaving 
before  the  coming  of  the  Spanish.  The  Pima  have 


Navajo  Woman  Spinning. 

discontinued  the  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth  in  recent 
years,  but  still  weave  belts. 

That  sheep  were  introduced  in  the  Southwest  in  the 
seventeenth  century  we  know,  for  certain  of  the  Rio 
Grande  villages  are  credited  with  flocks  of  sheep  at 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES. 


153 


the  time  of  the  rebellion  in  1680.     The  Navajo  were 
the  only  nomadic  people  to  turn  to  a  pastoral  life. 

When  blankets  are  to  be  made  from  the  wool,  it 
is  sorted,  spread  out  on  a  sloping  stone,  and  then  washed 


Navajo  Woman  beating  down  the  Woof  with  a  Batten  Stick. 

by  pouring  hot  water  containing  an  extract  of  the  yucca 
root  over  it.  The  carding  is  done  with  a  pair  of  ordi 
nary  European  hand  cards  and  there  is  no  evidence  of 


154  INDIANS   OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 

a  more  primitive  means  ever  having  been  employed. 
The  spindle,  however,  is  the  same  as  that  found  in  cliff 
ruins.  It  consists  of  a  small  stick  at  the  base  of  which 
is  a  wooden  disc  to  give  momentum  and  facilitate  the 
winding  of  the  yarn. 

The  loom  is  a  simple  frame  in  which  the  warp  is 
placed  vertically.  The  weaving  is  done  beginning 
at  the  bottom,  the  blanket  being  lowered  as  the  work 
progresses.  No  shuttle  is  used;  the  yarn  is  inserted 
with  the  fingers  or  by  the  aid  of  a  small  stick.  The 
woof  is  forced  down  by  pressure  with  a  fork  or  by  the 
blow  of  a  batten  stick.  The  weaving  is  peculiar  in  that 
the  woof  strands  of  a  particular  color  are  not  carried 
entirely  across  the  blanket,  but  only  as  far  as  that  color 
is  required  for  the  design.  It  is  then  dropped  and 
-another  color  taken  up. 

In  plain  weaving  the  warp  is  divided  into  two 
divisions  or  sheds  by  attaching  alternate  threads  by 
means  of  loops  of  yarn  to  two  small  sticks.  The  sheds 
or  sets  of  warp  strands  are  separated  by  pushing  down 
a  small  rod  and  crossed  by  pulling  up  on  the  stick  to 
which  the  loops  are  attached. 

Diagonal  weaving  is  done  by  making  three  instead  of 
two  sheds,  by  this  means  every  third  strand  of  the 
warp  can  be  lifted  and  a  raised  pattern  is  made  with  a 
slope  to  one  side  or  the  other.  By  reversing  the  direc 
tion  of  this  slope,  diamonds  are  produced.  This  style 
of  weaving  is  used  particularly  in  the  saddle  blankets. 

Sashes  are  woven  on  a  similar  loom  which  since  it  is 
small  is  stretched  on  a  forked  stick  or  by  fastening  one 


THE    NOMADIC    PEOPLES. 


155 


Navajo  Belt  Loom. 


Navajo  Chief  Blanket. 


156  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

end  to  a  tree  and  the  other  to  the  waist  of  the  weaver. 
The  patterns  are  brought  out  by  causing  the  warp 
instead  of  the  woof  to  appear  in  the  desired  places. 

The  colors  employed  are  the  natural  white  and  brown 
of  the  well-washed  wool,  a  gray  which  results  from  the 
mingling  of  these,  and  various  native  and  commercial 
dyes.  Black  they  produce  by  combining  a  concoction 
of  sumach  (Rhus  aromatica),  roasted  ochre,  and  pinon 
gum.  Dull  red  was  obtained  by  placing  the  yarn  in  a 
liquid  made  by  boiling  the  bark  of  alder  and  mountain 
mahogany  in  water.  Lemon  yellow  was  secured  by  the 
use  of  the  yellow  flowers  of  the  shrubby  Bigelovia 
gravcolens  and  a  native  alum.  Old  gold  resulted  from 
rubbing  into  the  wool  a  paste  made  of  sorrel  roots  and 
crude  alum  ground  together.  In  rather  early  days 
indigo  blue  was  obtained  from  the  Mexicans  and  dis 
placed  an  earlier  native  blue.  A  bright  scarlet  and  a 
rose  color  were  obtained  in  the  early  history  of  blanket- 
making  by  ravelling  woolen  cloth  obtained  from  Euro 
peans.  Blankets  containing  such  material  are  called 
"  bay  eta"  from  the  Spanish  name  of  flannel  used  in  the 
soldiers'  uniforms.  There  were  a  few  years  during 
which  the  Navajo  frequently  bought  yarn  ready  spun 
and  dyed  from  the  traders.  These  blankets  are  usually 
called  Germantowns. 

The  early  examples  of  Navajo  weaving  often  have 
broad  stripes,  closely  resembling  the  blankets  made  by 
the  Hopi.  Later  many  geometrical  figures  appear, 
standing  alone,  or  combined  with  horizontal  and  vertical 
stripes  or  with  each  other.  The  general  arrangement 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  157 

is  usually  symmetrical,  but  both  the  completed  pattern 
and  the  individual  designs  lack  the  exactness  of  ma 
chine  work. 

The  more  common  designs  are  squares,  parallelo 
grams,  diamonds,  and  triangles.  Diamonds  are  often 
formed  by  intersecting  diagonal  lines  which  run  across 
the  blanket,  half  diamonds  resulting  at  the  sides.  The 
outlines  of  the  figures  in  many  cases  are  broken  with 
right  angles,  that  is,  made  to  consist  of  a  series  of  steps. 
These  designs  have  Navajo  names  descriptive  of  them, 
such  as  " sling"  for  the  elongated  diamond,  " three 
points"  for  the  triangle.  The  ordinary  diamond  is 
called  "star  large/'  by  which  the  morningstar  is  meant. 
This  and  the  zigzag  line  representing  lightning  and 
triangular  masses  called  clouds  have  more  or  less 
religious  connotation  and  may  be  symbolic  in  their 
intention.  The  swastika,  which  is  now  often  seen  on 
blankets,  has  recently  been  introduced  in  response  to 
the  commercial  demand  for  it. 

It  is  proper  to  suppose  that  the  Navajo  who  formerly 
did  not  weave  learned  the  art  from  their  Pueblo  neigh 
bors  who  are  known  to  have  practised  it  in  prehistoric 
times.  They  seem  to  have  taken  over  the  loom  and  the 
general  methods  of  preparing  the  yarn  and  weaving  it. 
The  practice  of  making  designs  in  colors  which  do  not 
cross  the  entire  width  of  the  blanket  seems  to  have 
originated  with  the  Navajo.  The  Hopi  robes  have 
stripes  running  entirely  across  them;  but  the  skirts  of 
the  women  and  the  shirts  of  the  men  have  the  designs 
added  by  embroidery  after  the  blanket  is  woven.  The 


158 


INDIANS    OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 


method  employed  by  the  Navajo  of  making  the  design 
while  the  weaving  is  in  progress  is  similar  to  that  with 
which  they  were  familiar  in  basket  making.  It  is  then 


Navajo  Blanket.     Sage  Collection. 


THE   NOMADIC   PEOPLES. 

possible  that  the  designs  now  found  on  Navajo  blankets 
were  in  large  measure  adapted  from  basketry  designs. 
Unfortunately,  the  Navajo  at  the  present  time  make 
very  few  baskets,  so  that  a  comparison  between  the 
designs  on  blankets  and  baskets  is  impossible. 

Silverwork.  The  art  of  metal  working  is  certainly 
an  introduced  one  in  the  Southwest.  It  is  practised 
by  many  tribes  in  North  America  usually  with  the 
softer  metals  like  German  silver.  The  Navajo,  how 
ever,  use  Mexican  silver  coins  and  have  become  very 
expert.  Most  of  the  work  is  done  by  pounding  the 
material  on  a  small  anvil  with  an  ordinary  steel  hammer, 
A  small  forge  with  bellows  is  used  to  soften  the  metal 
and  to  melt  it  when  it  is  necessary  to  make  casts  in 
molds.  The  hammered  pieces  are  decorated  by  stamp 
ing  designs  on  them  with  steel  dies  which  are  prepared 
by  the  Navajo  themselves. 

The  products  are  bracelets,  finger  rings  set  with 
turquoise  matrix,  large  oval  discs  for  leather  belts,  and 
neck  ornaments.  These  neck  ornaments  are  usually  a 
string  of  hollow  spherical  beads  and  a  pendant  con 
sisting  of  two  joined  crescents.  Between  the  beads 
are  often  placed  conventionalized  squash  blossoms. 

Beadwork.  The  Apache  do  much  work  with  glass 
beads.  These  are  either  sewed  to  articles  of  leather 
and  buckskin,  such  as  purses,  tobacco  bags,  awl  cases, 
belts,  and  moccasins;  or  they  are  woven  in  a  belt  loom 
having  a  warp  and  woof  of  cotton  thread.  The  beads 
are  strung  on  the  woof  by  means  of  two  needles  which 
pass  a  double  thread  through  the  beads  and  on  either 


160  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

side  of  the  warp  strands.  The  designs  are  mostly 
geometrical,  similar  to  those  found  in  basket  work, 
but  realistic  ones  are  found  in  which  circular  saws, 
bows  and  arrows,  and  butterflies  are  represented. 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

The  Eastern  Apache,  as  far  as  can  be  discovered, 
have  no  clans,  or  other  divisions  regulating  marriage. 
The  Western  Apache  and  the  Navajo  have  clans  which 
are  exogamous  and  seem  to  serve  no  other  purpose 
than  that  of  regulating  marriage.  The  explanation 
of  the  names,  which  are  geographical  ones,  is  that  in 
mythical  times  a  band  camped  for  a  time  at  a  place 
where  a  cottonwood  tree  stood  by  a  stream  or  where 
some  accident  befell  them  and  from  this  tree  or  cir 
cumstance,  a  name  was  given  the  clan.  Were  one  to 
trust  to  these  myths  he  would  conclude  that  the  clans 
represent  former  geographical  or  political  groups. 
This  is  probably  not  the  case  for  the  various  clans  are 
now  completely  scattered  over  the  country  occupied 
by  these  two  peoples.  An  exogamous  group  can  hardly 
remain  a  local  or  political  one  since  the  husband  in 
each  family  must  belong  to  a  clan  different  from  that 
of  the  wife. 

Dr.  Washington  Matthews  by  using  several  infor 
mants  found  fifty-one  clans  among  the  Navajo.  Most 
individuals  are  well  acquainted  with  the  prominent 
ones.  In  several  cases  Matthews  found  a  grouping  of 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  161 

clans  into  small  units,  the  tie  being  such  that  marriage 
could  not  take  place  within  the  group,  but  no  well 
defined  phratries  appear. 

It  was  only  after  persistent  inquiry  that  anything 
concerning  clans  could  be  learned  among  the  Arizona 
Apache,  although  Bourke  published  a  list  of  such  clans 
many  years  ago.  The  difficulty  seem  to  be  the  result 
of  real  decadence  in  the  feeling  for  clans  and  clan  re 
strictions.  The  myth  recounting  the  origin  of  the 
clans  which  was  finally  secured  is  similar  to  that  told 
by  the  Navajo  and  many  of  the  names  of  the  clans  are 
the  same.  Among  the  Navajo  and  Apache  descent  is 
in  the  female  line,  the  children  belonging  to  the  mothers7 
clan. 

Among  the  Pima,  Russell  reports  the  existence  of  five 
groups  in  which  descent  was  traced  in  the  male  line. 
These  he  says  have  no  relation  to  marriage  or  cere 
monies  and  have  no  internal  organization.  It  seems 
probable  that  such  divisions  in  order  to  exist  must 
some  time  have  had  a  greater  significance  than  they 
appear  to  have  now. 


SOCIAL  CUSTOMS. 

The  young  men  among  the  Apache  in  former  days 
secured  their  brides  by  displaying  their  ability  as 
hunters.  The  man  came  to  the  lodge  of  his  chosen 
maiden  with  a  deer  which  he  placed  outside.  If  her 
family  were  willing  to  have  him  as  a  son-in-law,  the 


162  INDIANS  OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 

deer  was  taken  and  eaten.  The  young  man  lived  with 
his  father-in-law  for  some  time  and  hunted  for  the 
support  of  the  family.  A  strict  mother-in-law  taboo 
exists  among  the  Athapascan  tribes  of  the  South 
west.  The  young  man  must  never  meet  his  mother-in- 
law  or  any  of  her  sisters  or  her  mother.  They  are 
never  permitted  to  be  in  the  same  room  together  or 
directly  to  address  one  another.  When  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  communication  to  take  place  between 
them,  one  shouts  from  a  distance  to  the  other  using 
the  third  person.  "Tell  him  to  come  and  eat,  his 
dinner  is  ready,"  his  mother-in-law  may  call,  and  leave 
her  lodge  while  the  young  man  comes  to  eat.  The 
penalty  for  the  infringement  of  this  taboo  is  believed 
to  be  blindness  inflicted  by  some  supernatural  power. 
The  Indians  assign  no  other  reason  for  the  existence  of 
this  restriction  and  probably  no  other  is  felt  than  that 
such  meetings  and  intercourse  are  improper. 

The  adult  dead  are  buried  at  a  distance  from  the 
camping  places  and  the  graves  are  covered  with  stones 
and  brush.  The  personal  property  is  placed  by  the 
grave  and  a  horse  or  two  is  generally  killed  near  by. 
The  Jicarilla  used  to  cut  off  the  heads  of  the  horses  so 
sacrificed  as  is  the  custom  among  some  of  the  Plains 
tribes.  Dead  infants  are  usually  suspended  in  trees 
wrapped  in  their  cradles.  The  reason  for  this  different 
treatment  of  children  is  not  known  but  the  custom  has 
been  noted  in  the  preceding  pages  as  a  prehistoric  one 
in  this  region.  Great  fear  is  shown  of  dead  bodies  and 
all  objects  associated  with  them.  The  Apache  burn 


THE    NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  163 

the  houses  and  the  Navajo  desert  them  after  a  death 
has  occurred.  Widows  and  widowers  are  unwelcome 
guests  for  several  months  among  the  Jicarilla  and  are 
forced  to  camp  apart. 


POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION. 

The  government  of  the  nomadic  tribes  is  much  less 
formal  than  that  of  the  sedentary  peoples.  The 
Jicarilla  now  have  a  chief  elected  from  each  of  the  two 
bands.  One  of  these  is  recognized  by  the  agency 
officials  and  by  the  Indians  themselves  as  tribal  chief. 
In  earlier  times  the  two  divisions  appear  to  have  been 
politically  independent,  each  having  chiefs  of  coordi 
nate  rank.  Both  war  and  hunting  parties  were  under 
the  control  of  a  head  man  who  directed  them.  While 
it  is  probable  that  the  same  individual  frequently 
acted  in  this  capacity  it  is  not  certain  that  the  office 
of  war  chief  was  definitely  bestowed. 

The  other  Apache  and  the  Navajo  were  divided  into 
many  small  bands  each  with  its  chief  who  held  office 
for  life  and  was  frequently  succeeded  by  his  son  if  he 
proved  himself  efficient.  The  office  seems  to  have  been 
bestowed  by  common  consent.  The  Navajo  and  the 
Apache  bands  united  in  common  action  against  other 
tribes  and  against  the  Mexicans  and  Americans  under 
the  leadership  of  such  men  as  had  proved  themselves 
capable  leaders.  As  examples  may  be  mentioned 
Geronimo  who  led  several  bands  of  the  Apache  for  a 


164  INDIANS    OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

number  of  years,  and  Manuelito  among  the  Navajo 
who  led  them  in  their  fight  against  the  Americans. 

Each  Pima  village  had  a  chief,  a  public  crier,  and  a 
council.  The  tribe  as  a  whole  had  a  head  chief  who 
held  his  office  for  life  or  at  the  pleasure  of  the  village 
chiefs  who  chose  him,  and  who  often  designated  his 
son  to  be  his  successor. 


GAMES. 

The  Apache  and  Navajo  have  several  games  which 
are  played  partly  for  amusement  but  largely  in  the 
hope  of  gain.  As  elsewhere  in  North  America,  these 
games  have  a  semi-religious  character.  There  is  a 
myth  which  explains  their  origin  and  songs  and  prayers 


Hoop  and  Pole  Game.     Apache. 

to  bring  about  success  in  playing.  The  game  to  which 
most  dignity  is  attached  is  the  hoop  and  pole  game. 
The  implements  employed  are  a  hoop  with  incised 
bands  and  a  string  stretched  along  the  diameter  in 
which  many  knots  are  tied,  and  two  long  poles,  the 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  165 

larger  ends  of  which  have  a  number  of  incised  rings. 
To  play  it  two  men  stand  side  by  side  at  one  end  of  a 
level  stretch  of  ground.  One  rolls  the  hoop  down  this 
stretch  and  both  throw  the  poles  after  it.  If  the  hoop 
falls  on  the  butt  of  one  of  the  poles  a  count  is  made 
according  to  the  knots  of  the  string  or  the  incised  rings 
which  happen  to  be  in  contact  with  the  rings  cut  into 
the  pole.  The  incised  rings  are  named  for  the  lightning 
and  the  hoop  represents  a  snake.  Women  are  never 
allowed  to  witness  the  playing  of  this  game. 

A  guessing  game  is  played  by  a  number  of  players 
divided  into  two  parties.  A  man  representing  one  of 
these  parties  hides  a  ball  in  one  of  several  piles  of  sand 
or  in  a  moccasin.  The  other  party  must  guess  its 
location. 

The  women  play  a  game  with  three  split  staves  which 
are  dropped  vertically  on  a  stone.  There  are  several 
counts  according  to  the  position  in  which  they  fall. 
If  the  split  side  of  all  three  sticks  is  up,  the  count  is  five, 
but  if  the  rounded  sides  of  all  three  are  up,  the  count 
is  ten.  The  score  of  the  game  is  kept  by  moving  a 
stick  for  each  player  around  a  circle  marked  by  forty 
small  stones.  There  are  openings  at  four  points, 
called  rivers.  If  the  stick  of  a  player  falls  into  a  river 
she  must  return  it  to  the  beginning  place  again. 


166  INDIANS   OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 


RELIGION. 

Ceremonies.  The  religious  practices  of  the  nomadic 
peoples  have  much  in  common  with  those  of  the 
Pueblos.  They  make  sand  or  dry  paintings,  those  of 
the  Navajo  being  very  numerous  and  very  elaborate. 
Masked  or  otherwise  distinguished  individuals  repre 
sent  divine  persons  in  the  ceremonies.  Pollen  is 
strewed  and  is  the  regular  accompaniment  of  prayers. 
The  Navajo  make  use  of  prayer  offerings  and  also  have 
fetishes  which  are  used  both  in  hunting  and  in  the  care 
of  their  flocks  and  herds.  The  Apache  make  much  use 
of  sacred  beads  and  feathers  which  are  worn  about  the 
person  on  the  wrists  or  as  a  bandolier  across  the  breast. 

A  ceremony  held  for  girls  when  they  attain  woman 
hood  is  considered  of  prime  importance  among  the 
Apache  tribes  and  has  been  maintained  while  other 
ceremonies  have  fallen  into  neglect.  The  essential 
features  of  these  ceremonies  are  numerous  songs  and 
prayers  uttered  by  the  priest  hired  for  the  occasion, 
dancing  by  the  girl  or  girls  for  whom  it  is  held,  a  foot 
race  by  the  girl,  and  the  painting  of  the  girl  and  of  the 
spectators,  who  expect  good  fortune  as  a  result. 

The  Jicarilla  ceremony  is  peculiar  in  that  a  boy  is 
associated  with  a  girl  in  the  ceremony.  He  is  called 
Yinaiyesgani  and  the  girl  Esdzanadlehi.  These  names 
are  those  of  the  culture  hero  and  his  grandmother,  but 
they  are  undoubtedly  associated  also  with  the  sun  and 
the  moon. 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  167 

The  Mescalero  ceremony  lasts  four  nights.  A 
special  lodge  is  built  with  many  ceremonial  observances. 
Behind  the  fire  in  this  lodge  the  girl  sits  and  near  it  the 
priest.  Early  in  the  evening  he  begins  singing  the 
songs  of  the  ceremony  keeping  count  of  them  by  placing 
small  sticks  in  a  circle  about  the  fire  beginning  at  the 
east.  The  songs  are  mostly  sung  in  groups  of  four,  the 
priest  stopping  between  each  set  to  smoke,  pray,  and 
sing  a  special  tobacco  song.  About  twenty-five  songs 
are  sung  during  each  of  the  first  three  nights  ending 
about  midnight.  The  girl  stands  and  dances  during 
some  of  the  songs,  the  movements  changing  in  accord 
ance  with  the  character  of  the  songs. 

While  this  is  taking  place  inside,  another  ceremony 
occurs  by  a  fire  in  front  of  the  lodge.  Masked  and 
painted  men  representing  the  Ganhi  appear  and  dance 
about  the  fire.  The  Ganhi  are  believed  to  live  in  the 
interior  of  certain  mountains  and  rocks  where  they  have 
a  world  which  is  more  beautiful  and  better  provided 
with  food  than  this.  They  apparently  correspond  to 
the  kachinas  of  the  Pueblo  Indians.  The  Indians 
generally,  both  men  and  women,  join  in  the  dances, 
during  the  ceremony.  The  women  choose  their  part 
ners  and  receive  a  present  from  them  at  the  end  of  the 
evening's  dancing.  The  entire  community  is  feasted 
during  the  days  of  the  ceremony. 

On  the  last  night  the  priest  sings  all  night  long 
repeating  the  songs  of  the  previous  nights.  By  in 
cluding  or  excluding  certain  songs  he  makes  the  pre 
scribed  ones  describing  the  dawn  come  just  as  dawn 
appears.  The  priest  paints  a  red  disc  to  represent  the 


168  INDIANS   OF  THE    SOUTHWEST. 

sun  on  the  palm  of  his  hand  with  four  beams  streaming 
toward  his  fingers  and  four  more  toward  his  wrist. 
This  painting  he  applies  four  times  to  the  crown  of  the 
girl's  head.  He  then  paints  four  lines  outward  from  the 
corners  of  her  mouth  and  puts  yellow  pollen  on  her 
forehead.  The  priest  paints  the  women  and  children 
present  with  red  on  the  right  side  of  their  faces,  the 
soles  of  their  feet,  and  their  breasts,  and  dusts  pollen 
on  their  left  cheeks. 

With  appropriate  songs  the  priest  then  conducts  the 
girl  out  of  the  lodge  toward  the  east  where  a  buffalo 
robe  is  spread.  On  this  he  paints  four  footprints  in 
pollen  and  four  in  red  ochre.  The  girl  having  stepped 
on  these,  runs  first  around  a  basket  filled  with  feathers 
which  are  presented  to  her  by  attendant  girls  and  then 
to  an  indicated  bush  or  tree  in  the  distance. 

While  this  ceremony  is  primarily  for  the  benefit  of 
the  girl,  securing  for  her  a  happy,  useful,  and  honorable 
life,  it  is  intended  to  bring  good  fortune  to  the  entire 
community.  The  songs  sung  show  how  greatly  the 
feeling  for  number  and  balance  accentuated  by  refer 
ences  to  certain  colors  and  contrasted  qualities  has 
pervaded  Southwestern  ceremonials.  The  following 
song  is  sung  when  the  poles  forming  the  frame  of  the 
lodge  are  tied  together. 

Nayenezganin's  male  lodge-poles  of  blue  are  tied  with  a  sunbeam. 

IsdjanaLijn's  female  lodge-poles  of  white  are  tied  with  a  rainbow, 

The  second  time  they  are  placed  together. 

Nayenezganin's  male  lodge-poles  of  yellow  are  tied  with  a  sunbeam, 

The  third  time  they  are  placed  together. 

IsdjanaLijn's  female  lodge-poles  of  black  are  tied  with  a  rainbow, 

The  fourth  time  they  are  placed  together. 


THE    NOMADIC   PEOPLES.  169 

The  Jicarilla  have  an  annual  festival  which  resembles 
very  closely  that  held  at  Taos.  The  entire  tribe  camps 
near  a  large  lake  in  the  southwestern  corner  of  their 
reservation.  The  two  bands,  the  Llanero  and  the  Ollero, 
pitch  their  tipis  on  opposite  sides.  On  the  day  pre 
ceding  the  public  festival,  the  young  men  of  each  band 
accompanied  by  the  older  men  go  some  distance  from 
the  camp  and  hold  a  preliminary  race  by  which  those 


Jicarilla  Relay  Race. 

who  are  to  run  in  the  final  race  are  chosen.  Two 
booths  are  constructed,  one  at  each  end  of  the  race 
course.  From  these  the  two  bands  issue  in  irregular 
groups  surrounding  a  drum.  The  dancers  have 
cottonwood  branches  in  their  hands  and  are  led  by  a 
man  carrying  a  standard  from  which  flies  a  cotton  cloth 
and  on  the  top  of  which  are  two  ears  of  corn.  The 
two  bands  of  dancers  approach  each  other  and  pass, 


170  INDIANS   OF  THE    SOUTHWEST. 

each  going  to  the  goal  of  the  other.  During  the  night 
and  the  early  morning,  ceremonies  are  held  in  the 
booths,  a  sand  painting  is  made,  the  racers  are  painted, 
and  prayers  are  said  for  them  by  priests.  About  noon 
the  relay  race  takes  place,  practically  under  the  same 
conditions  and  in  the  same  manner  as  has  already  been 
described  for  Taos. 

The  Jicarilla  have  a  healing  ceremony  held  at  the 
request  of  someone  who  is  ill.  A  large  place  is  en 
closed  by  a  brush  fence.  At  one  end  of  this  a  tipi  is 
fixed  or  a  booth  is  made.  Within  this  a  sand  painting 
is  drawn  representing  many  animals.  A  buffalo  skin 
is  stretched  over  a  pit  and  beaten  like  a  drum,  the 
moccasins  of  the  patient  being  used  for  drumsticks. 
The  shoulder  blade  of  a  deer  or  antelope  is  rubbed  over 
a  notched  stick  producing  considerable  noise.  Rattles 
are  also  used  as  an  accompaniment  to  loud  singing. 
This  singing  and  noise  is  intended  to  scare  away  the 
evil  influence  which  has  resulted  from  the  patient's 
having  crossed  the  tracks  of  a  bear  or  rattlesnake. 
Within  the  brush  enclosure  a  dance  is  held  at  night. 
Men  painted  in  two  styles  and  decorated  with  fir 
boughs  come  in  and  perform  many  seeming  miracles 
such  as  making  corn  increase  in  a  pot,  and  taking 
rabbits  from  a  seemingly  empty  vessel.  These  two 
sets  of  dancers  probably  correspond  to  the  Cuirana 
and  the  Koshare  of  the  Rio  Grande  pueblos.  The 
Ute  hold  a  ceremony  similar  to  this  each  spring  known 
as  the  bear  dance. 

The  Navajo  have  developed  many  elaborate  cere- 


THE  NOMADIC   PEOPLES.  171 

monies  each  of  which  is  under  the  control  of  a  school  of 
priests,  the  numbers  of  which  are  maintained  by  those 
who  apply  for  initiation  and  training.  These  cere 
monies  for  the  most  part,  are  held  at  the  request  and 
expense  of  some  individual  who  is  ill  or  indisposed.  ^ 

A  special  conical  lodge  of  logs  covered  with  earth  is 
built  in  which  the  ceremony  is  carried  on.  All  the 
ceremonies  seem  to  be  alike  in  certain  particulars  such 
as  the  use  of  a  sweat  bath,  the  making  of  many  sand 
paintings,  and  the  singing  of  a  great  number  of  songs. 
At  some  point  in  the  ceremony,  masked  men  represent 
ing  the  more  important  gods  of  the  Navajo  enter  in  a 
procession.  Prayer  offerings  are  made  of  sections  of 
reeds  filled  with  tobacco.  They  are  painted  with  the 
colors  and  are  deposited  in  the  particular  situations 
prescribed  for  the  deity  for  which  they  are  prepared. 

On  the  last  night  a  public  performance  is  held  which 
is  largely  attended.  Besides  the  masked  dancers 
representing  the  gods,  clowns  appear  who  play  tricks 
on  one  another  and  often  act  in  a  very  obscene  manner. 

The  songs  and  prayers  are  beautiful  in  their  imagery 
and  have  many  references  to  natural  elements  to  which 
sex  is  attributed.  Varying  positions  and  movements 
are  indicated  in  an  established  order.  The  number 
four  prevails  in  the  prayers  and  songs  themselves,  and 
they  are  generally  repeated  four  times  with  minor 
variations.  The  following  prayer  recorded  by  Dr. 
Matthews  belongs  to  the  Night  Chant. 

Tsegihi. 

House  made  of  the  dawn. 


172  INDIANS   OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 

House  made  of  evening  light. 

House  made  of  the  dark  cloud. 

House  made  of  male  rain. 

House  made  of  dark  mist. 

House  made  of  female  rain. 

House  made  of  pollen. 

House  made  of  grasshoppers. 

Dark  cloud  is  at  the  door. 

The  trail  of  it  is  dark  cloud. 

The  zigzag  lightning  stands  high  up  on  it. 

Male  deity! 

Your  offering  I  make. 

I  have  prepared  a  smoke  for  you. 

Restore  my  feet  for  me. 

Restore  my  legs  for  me. 

Restore  my  body  for  me. 

Restore  my  mind  for  me. 

Restore  my  voice  for  me. 

Happily  may  I  walk. 

Happily  with  abundant  dark  clouds,  may  I  walk. 

Happily  with  abundant  showers,  may  I  walk. 

Happily  with  abundant  plants,  may  I  walk. 

Happily  may  I  walk. 

Being  as  it  used  to  be  long  ago,  may  I  walk. 

May  it  be  happy  (or  beautiful)  before  me. 

May  it  be  beautiful  behind  me. 

May  it  be  beautiful  below  me. 

May  it  be  beautiful  above  me. 

May  it  be  beautiful  all  around  me. 

In  beauty  it  is  finished. 

In  beauty  it  is  finished. 

Beliefs.  While  the  ceremonies  of  the  Athapascan 
tribes  of  the  Southwest  present  considerable  specializa 
tion  and  variety,  the  deities  reverenced  and  the  myths 
related  about  them  are  in  the  main  identical.  The  sun 
is  probably  credited  with  the  greatest  amount  of  power 
and  is  most  frequently  referred  to  in  song  and  addressed 
in  prayer.  Among  the  Jicarilla,  at  least,  the  earth  is 


THE   NOMADIC   PEOPLES.  173 

also  an  object  of  worship.  The  Mescalero  songs  give 
the  moon  a  place  second  only  to  that  of  the  sun.  The 
winds  are  with  them  objects  of  worship  as  they  are  also 
with  the  Western  Apache  and  the  Navajo.  The 
thunder  is  everywhere  feared  and  looked  upon  as  a 
mighty  power  seldom  to  be  mentioned.  Clouds  and 
rain,  however,  have  a  place  of  much  less  importance  than 
with  the  village  people.  There  are  sacred  mountains 
and  rivers  but  these  are  of  necessity  different  for  the 
different  tribes. 

One  of  the  more  personal  gods,  Esdzanadlehi,  was 
the  sole  survivor  of  a  flood  or  according  to  some,  the 
ravages  of  monsters.  She  is  probably  to  be  identified 
with  the  Hopi  goddess  of  hard  substances.  Yinaiyes- 
gani,  the  culture  hero,  her  grandson  destroyed  the 
monsters  and  made  the  world  safe  for  human  habitation. 
By  some  he  is  said  to  have  a  brother  who  is,  however, 
quite  secondary  in  importance.  The  Navajo  have  a 
series  of  gods  who  intervene  in  human  affairs  from 
time  to  time.  They  are  believed  to  dwell  in  the  ruins 
of  Canyon  de  Chelly  and  in  remote  places.  They  are 
represented  in  the  dances  by  masked  and  painted  men 
and  receive  offerings  and  are  frequently  invoked. 
There  are  also  gods  of  the  water  courses  and  springs. 
The  Jicarilla  and  the  Western  Apache  know  similar 
gods,  in  several  cases  even  using  the  same  personal 
names  for  them.  The  Mescalero  and  the  San  Carlos 
believe  also  in  the  Ganhi  who  live  in  the  interior  of  the 
mountains. 

The  dead   are  supposed  to  go  to  the   lower   world 


174  INDIANS   OF  THE  SOUTHWEST 

through  the  opening  by  means  of  which  the  people 
originally  came  forth. 

The  Indians  of  the  Southwest  have  many  myths  and 
tales  which  they  relate  particularly  during  the  winter. 
Very  many  of  these  myths  explain  the  origin  of  the 
world.  While  these  vary  in  details,  according  to  the 
tribe  and  the  individual  who  tells  them,  they  agree  as 
to  the  general  facts.  The  San  Carlos  tell  of  a  time 
before  the  world  existed  when  Spider,  Mirage,  Whirl 
wind  and  Black  Obsidian  lived  suspended  in  space. 
Obsidian  rubbed  his  side  and  from  the  removed  cuticle 
produced  the  earth.  They  then  lifted  up  the  sky  and 
supported  it  at  each  of  the  four  corners  with  an  obsidian 
pillar  inside  the  core  of  a  whirlwind.  People  and 
animals  came  to  exist  within  the  world  in  an  unexplained 
manner.  They  were  threatened  with  a  flood  and 
escaped  by  means  of  reeds  or  a  ladder  through  an 
opening  in  the  sky  of  the  lower  world,  the  crust  of  this. 
They  were  all  destroyed  by  monsters  except  a  girl, 
Esdzanadlehi.  The  water  pitying  her  lonely  condi 
tion  became  the  father  of  a  daughter  who  in  turn  by 
the  rays  of  the  rising  sun  became  the  mother  of  Yinaiyes- 
gani.  This  boy  visited  the  sun,  his  father,  withstood 
severe  tests  as  to  his  sonship,  and  secured  weapons 
and  promised  aid.  With  these  weapons  he  killed  a 
giant,  a  monster  elk  or  antelope,  a  great  eagle,  and  many 
other  evil  things.  When  this  work  was  completed 
and  the  world  was  repeopled  by  the  creation  of  men 
and  women  from  ears  of  corn,  Esdzanadlehi  went  to 
the  western  ocean  where  she  is  now  living  in  a  floating 


THE   NOMADIC    PEOPLES.  175 

palace  of  shell.  According  to  the  Navajo,  Yinaiyesgani 
lives  with  his  brother  near  the  mouth  of  the  San  Juan 
River. 

Later,  a  man  who  was  considered  worthless  because 
he  gambled  away  all  his  property,  went  down  a  river 
in  a  hollow  log,  conducted  by  the  gods.  He  landed  at  a 
favorable  place  and  prepared  a  farm  for  which  his  pet 
turkey  furnished  the  seed.  He  found  his  way  to  the 
home  of  a  man  who  had  all  game  animals  domesticated. 
He  married  this  man's  daughter  who  received  these 
animals  as  her  marriage  portion.  Thus,  was  food 
supplied  for  mankind. 

According  to  the  myths,  the  various  ceremonies  of 
the  Navajo  were  taught  to  some  Indian  who  by  acci 
dent  or  at  the  direction  of  the  gods  went  to  a  ruin  or 
other  dwelling  place  of  the  supernatural  beings  and 
learned  there  the  songs,  prayers,  and  rites. 

A  long  myth  explains  the  origin  of  the  Navajo 
people  and  their  clans.  The  nucleus  was  created  by 
Esdzanadlehi  in  her  western  home.  As  they  journeyed 
eastward  they  met  various  parties  who  joined  them 
and  who  were  given  names  according  to  the  attendant 
circumstances  of  their  meeting.  Other  myths  explain 
the  origin  of  fire,  and  of  night  and  day.  There  are 
many  animal  tales,  a  large  number  of  them  being 
associated  with  coyote  who  is  now  represented  as  being 
exceedingly  keen  of  wit  and  again  as  very  stupid. 
These  myths  and  stories  told  to  considerable  companies 
during  the  evenings  of  winter  are  sources  of  both 
amusement  and  instruction. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
CONCLUSION. 

IN  the  preceding  pages  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
describe  briefly  the  modern  and  prehistoric  cultures  of 
the  Southwest.  In  doing  this  some  pains  have  been 
taken  to  point  out  the  influences  of  environment  and 
the  results  of  Spanish  and  American  contact.  It  may 
be  well  in  conclusion,  to  ask,  if  not  answer,  some  ques 
tions  regarding  the  relationship  of  these  peoples  of  the 
Southwest  to  each  other  and  to  their  neighbors.  When 
the  relationship  of  tribes  is  considered  it  is  well  to  be 
certain  what  sort  of  relationship  is  in  mind. 

Many  are  interested  in  the  physical  appearance  of 
men  and  endeavor  to  trace  the  distribution  of  mankind 
by  this  means.  Now  such  physical  characteristics  as 
the  color  of  the  skin,  the  character  of  the  hair,  the  shape 
of  the  head,  the  contour  of  the  body,  are  inherited,  and 
two  peoples  who  closely  resemble  each  other  in  these 
respects  may  be  presumed  to  have  descended  from  the 
same  ancestors.  When  two  peoples  so  resembling  each 
other  are  found  separated,  one  or  the  other  must  have 
migrated  or  those  who  once  lived  between  the  two 
peoples  have  disappeared  from  some  cause. 

If  then  we  ask  whether  physically  the  prehistoric 
people,  the  modern  sedentary,  and  the  nomadic  people 
are  of  common  descent,  the  question  must  be  answered 

176 


CONCLUSION.  177 

from  observances  of  the  bodily  appearance  of  these 
people  and  the  remains  of  the  prehistoric  people  which 
have  been  so  splendidly  preserved.  There  is  no  marked 
difference  in  the  color  of  the  skin,  they  are  all  of  the 
chocolate  brown  found  generally  in  North  America. 
Nor  is  their  hair  in  any  way  different,  it  is  coarse  and 
round  in  cross  section,  and  therefore  straight.  In 
stature  according  to  Dr.  Hrdlic'ka  there  is  considerable 
variation : 


Inches 

Inches 

Maricopa 

68.8 

Walapai 

66.3 

Yuma 

67.7 

Isleta 

66.2 

Pima 

67.3 

Mescalero  Apache 

65.9 

Mohave 

67.5 

Southern  Ute 

65.6 

Jicarilla  Apache 

67.4 

San  Juan 

65.3 

Navajo 

67.4 

Acoma 

64.9 

White  River  Apache  67'.  3 

Taos 

64.6 

Papago 

67.2 

Hopi 

64.4 

Havasupai 

67.1 

Zuni 

64.3 

Yavapai 

67.08 

Jemez 

64.05 

San  Carlos  Apache 

66.7 

Sia 

63.9 

The  proportion  of  the  length  to  the  breadth  of  the 
head  has  been  much  used  in  describing  and  classifying 
races.  The  skulls  recovered  from  the  ruins  of  southern 
Utah  are  extremely  long  and  narrow.  Of  the  modern 
peoples  of  the  Southwest  only  the  Pima  and  Papago 
and  some  of  the  people  of  Taos  have  heads  of  this  shape. 
The  heads  of  the  remainder  of  the  prehistoric  people, 
those  of  the  Maricopa,  Yuma,  Mohave;  and  most  of 
the  sedentary  people,  the  Hopi,  the  Zuni,  and  the  Rio 


178  INDIANS   OF  THE   SOUTHWEST. 

Grande  Pueblos  generally  have  moderately  broad 
heads.  Only  the  Apache,  the  Havasupai,  and  the 
Walapai  have  heads  which  are  exceedingly  broad  as 
compared  with  their  lengths. 

When  various  physical  characteristics  are  compared, 
it  appears  that  the  Navajo  and  Hopi  closely  resemble 
each  other  in  bodily  form,  and  that  the  Apache,  Wala 
pai,  and  Havasupai  are  similar.  Too  little  is  known  of 
surrounding  tribes  to  warrant  any  conclusion  as  to 
relationship  outside  of  the  area. 

The  languages  of  the  Indians  of  North  America  have 
proved  a  most  convenient  and  definite  means  of  classifi 
cation.  There  have  been  found  to  exist  related 
languages  spoken  over  large  areas.  The  Algonkin  is, 
or  was,  spoken  in  much  of  the  eastern  portion  of  North 
America  and  by  several  large  tribes  living  at  the  eastern 
base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  On  the  Pacific  Coast, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  languages  unrelated 
to  £ach  other,  or  to  any  other  known  languages.  Two 
languages  are  considered  related  when  they  have  more 
words  or  word  elements  in  common  than  can  be  ex 
plained  as  the  results  of  borrowing  or  accident. 

In  the  matter  of  language  nothing  can  be  said  con 
cerning  the  prehistoric  peoples.  They  did  not  have  a 
phonetic  method  of  recording  language  but  were  only 
able  to  represent  an  object  by  carving  its  shape  on  the 
face  of  a  cliff.  We  are  therefore  unable  to  determine 
their  relationship  to  existing  linguistic  groups.  Among 
the  Pueblos,  we  have  four  linguistic  stocks.  The  Hopi 
alone  speak  a  language  which  is  represented  elsewhere. 


CONCLUSION.  179 

Their  speech,  Shoshonean,  is  related  to  the  Ute,  Paiute, 
and  Comanche,  and  probably  less  closely  to  the  Pima 
and  ancient  Mexican.  The  language  of  Zuni  has  no 
traceable  connection  with  any  other  known  language. 
Acoma,  and  certain  of  the  villages  in  the  Rio  Grande 
valley  compose  the  Keresan  linguistic  stock.  The 
other  villages,  which  comprise  the  Tanoan  stock 
originally  had  three  dialects,  one  of  which,  the  Piro, 


Petroglyphs,  San  Juan  Valley. 
(Courtesy  of  Dr.  Prudden.) 

is  now  nearly  extinct.  The  other  two  are  known  as  the 
Tewa  and  the  Tiwa.  The  nomadic  peoples,  as  has 
been  stated  above,  belong  to  four  linguistic  stocks,  the 
Athapascan,  the  Piman,  the  Yuman,  and  the  Sho- 
shonean.  The  Athapascan  tribes  are  so  far  removed 
from  the  other  tribes  speaking  related  languages  on 
the  Pacific  Coast  northward  from  northern  Cali 
fornia  and  in  northern  Canada,  that  a  migration 


180  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

southward  has  generally  been  assumed.  There  are 
indications  that  the  stock  heretofore  called  the  Sho- 
shonean  is  in  reality  remotely  related  to  the  Piman  and 
Nahuan  of  Mexico.  If  this  should  be  established, 
related  languages  would  be  found  extending  from 
Yucatan  northward  through  the  mountain  regions 
nearly  to  Canada.  The  Yuman  languages  seem 
originally  to  have  been  confined  to  the  valley  of  the 
Colorado  from  which  they  spread  eastward  to  the  Rio 
Verde  and  westward  to  the  California  coast. 

Interest  mainly  centers,  however,  in  the  habits  and 
the  products  of  whatever  people  happens  to  be  under 
discussion.  The  culture  of  neighboring  peoples  should 
be  examined  to  determine,  if  possible,  whether  the 
particular  culture  is  related  to  that  of  other  tribes. 
These  resemblances  in  culture  must  extend  to  details 
in  order  to  point  convincingly  to  a  common  origin. 
It  is  not  enough  that  two  peoples  make  baskets,,  but 
the  same  methods  of  making,  and  the  same  style  of 
ornamentation  should  be  found. 

In  the  matter  of  culture  we  have  seen  that  the  seden 
tary  people  raised  corn,  beans,  squashes,  and  cotton 
employing  irrigation  when  necessary.  The  men  rather 
than  the  women  devoted  themselves  to  this  work. 
Corn  was  ground  by  means  of  an  inclined  stone  slab 
over  which  a  rough  stone  was  pushed  up  and  down. 
The  art  of  spinning  with  a  simple  spindle  and  of  weaving 
on  a  rude  loom  was  known  and  practised  in  prehistoric 
times.  They  knew  how  to  prepare  stones  and  lay 
them  in  suitable  walls  for  the  construction  of  large 


CONCLUSION.  181 

communal  houses,  they  also  understood  several  methods 
of  building  with  clay.  They  made  pottery  by  a  definite 
method  of  coiling  and  decorated  it  with  various  colors. 
Now  these  particular  arts  and  methods  were  known 
and  practised  southward  to  and  beyond  Peru.  The 
people  of  the  Southwest  seemed  to  have  shared  with  the 
Mexicans  and  Peruvians  a  common  culture  as  far  as 
these  particular  elements  are  concerned,  and  it  seems 
probable  that  this  much  of  the  culture  at  least  originated 
somewhere  within  this  territory.  That  the  origin  of 
the  main  and  common  elements  of  this  culture  was 
somewhere  nearer  the  center  of  the  area,  south  of  the 
Pueblo  region  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose.  Culture  is 
dispersed  in  two  important  ways,  first,  by  migrations 
which  do  take  place,  but  are  rarer  than  is  generally 
supposed,  in  which  a  moving  people  carry  their  imple 
ments  and  their  arts  to  a  new  region;  and  second  by 
uninterrupted  social  contact  of  such  a  sort  that  the 
members  of  one  political  and  linguistic  body  meet  for 
trade  and  intermarry,  thereby  transferring  objects  and 
arts  from  one  tribe  to  another.  It  is  not  then  necessary 
to  believe  that  the  Aztecs  migrated  from  the  Southwest 
or  the  Pueblos  from  Mexico.  That  this  culture  which 
includes  the  raising  of  maize  is  an  old  one  we  must 
believe.  With  all  the  force  of  nearly  four  hundred 
years  of  European  contact,  little  change  has  been 
wrought  in  the  life  of  these  sedentary  people.  For  the 
development  of  that  culture  and  its  peculiar  adaptation 
to  the  Southwest,  more  than  a  few  centuries  surely 
must  have  been  necessary. 


182  INDIANS   OF   THE    SOUTHWEST. 

The  nomadic  peoples,  particularly  the  Athapascan 
speaking  tribes,  only  in  part  partake  of  this  southern 
culture.  They  raise  corn  but  not  cotton.  They 
learned  the  use  of  the  spindle  and  the  loom  after  the 
introduction  of  sheep  by  the  Spanish.  They  never 
learned  or  practised  masonry  and  never  lived  in  com 
munity  houses.  In  some  respects  they  were  similar 
in  their  habits  of  life  to  the  Indians  of  the  Plains.  They 
appear  then  to  belong  to  the  culture  of  the  north  rather 
than  of  the  south.  Again,  it  is  not  necessary  to  assume 
a  migration  of  a  large  body  of  people  into  this  area 
from  the  north,  although  connections  of  language  make 
such  a  migration  probable.  Instead  of  a  stream  of 
migration,  the  culture  may  have  been  transferred  by 
waves  passing  from  people  to  people  through  ordinary 
social  contact. 

The  fact  that  two  cultures  exist  in  this  same  region 
has  usually  been  interpreted  to  mean  that  the  nomadic 
people  have  not  yet  had  time  to  adopt  the  culture  of  the 
sedentary  people.  But  when  two  peoples  are  adjusted 
to  the  physical  environment,  each  in  their  own  way, 
and  to  each  other,  there  is  no  reason  why  a  balance  so 
established  should  not  exist  indefinitely.  Analogous 
relations  have  long  endured  between  the  roving  Bedouin 
of  Syria  and  Egypt  and  the  agricultural  Fellahin  living 
in  the  villages  of  the  same  region.  Indeed,  analogous 
relations  exist  wherever  there  is  found  in  the  same 
region  a  rural  and  urban  population. 

While  it  is  true  that  in  certain  main  features  the 
Indians  of  the  Southwest  share  in  the  cultures  of  the 


CONCLUSION.  183 

north  and  the  south,  in  many  respects  their  culture  is 
unique.  The  location  of  the  prehistoric  houses  under 
cliffs,  the  terracing  of  the  upper  stories  of  the  com 
munity  houses,  the  details  of  dress,  the  designs  found 
in  pottery,  baskets,  and  blankets,  the  relationship  of 
clans  to  priesthoods,  and  perhaps  the  greater  part  of 
their  ceremonial  life  appear  to  be  the  main  elements  of 
a  special  culture  confined  to  the  Southwest  and  probably 
developed  there. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


Bandelier,  A.  F.  Ethnology  and  Archaeology.  Papers  of  the  Archaeo 
logical  Institute  of  America,  American 
Series,  1,  3,  4,  and  5. 

Bourke,  John  G.  The  Snake-Dance  of  the  Moquis  of  Arizona.  New 

York,  1884. 

Gushing,  Frank  Hamilton.  Zuni.  Second  and  Thirteenth  Annual 

Reports,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 

Dorsey,  G.  A.,  and  Voth,  H.  R.  Hopi.  Publications  of  the  Field 

Columbian  Museum,  Anthropological 
Series,  Vol.  3. 

Fewkes,  J.  Walter.  Archaeology  and  Hopi  Ceremonies.  Fifteenth, 

Seventeenth,  and  Twenty-second  An 
nual  Reports,  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology;  Bulletins,  Forty-one  and 
Fifty-one,  Bureau  of  American  Eth 
nology;  Journal  of  American  Ethnology 
and  Archaeology,  Vols.  2  and  4. 

Hewett,  Edgar  L.  Jemez  Plateau.  Bulletin  32,  Bureau  of  American 

Ethnology. 

Hodge,  F.  W.  Ethnology  and  Archaeology.  American  Anthropolo 
gist,  Vol.  6,  No.  3,  and  Vol.  9,  No.  8. 

Holmes,  William  H.  Archaeology.  Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the 

United  States  Geological  and  Geo 
graphical  Survey. 

Jackson,  William  H.  Archaeology.  Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the 

United  States  Geological  and  Geographi 
cal  Survey. 

Kroeber,  A.  L.     Mohave.     American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  Vol.  4,  No.  2. 

Matthews,  Washington.  Navajo.  Memoirs,  American  Museum  of 

Natural  History,  Vol.  6. 

Mindeleff,  Cosmos.  Navajo  and  Archaeology.  Thirteenth,  Sixteenth, 

and  Seventeenth  Annual  Reports, 
Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 

185 


186  INDIANS   OF   THE   SOUTHWEST. 

Mindeleff,    Victor.     Tusayan    and    Cibola.     Eighth   Annual    Report, 

Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 
Nordenskiold,  G.     The  Cliff  Dwellers  of  Mesa  Verde,  Southwestern 

Colorado;  their  pottery  and  implements. 

Translated     by     D.     Lloyd     Morgan. 

Stockholm,  1893. 
Prudden,  T.  Mitchell.     Archaeology.     American  Anthropologist,  N.  S., 

Vol.  5,  No.  2. 
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American  Ethnology. 
,  Matilda  C.     Sia   and   Zuni.     Eleventh   and   Twenty-third 

Annual   Report,    Bureau   of   American 

Ethnology. 
Voth,  H.  R.     Hopi.     Publications  of  the  Field  Columbian  Museum, 

Anthropological  Series,  Vol.  3;    Ameri 

can  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  Vol.  2,  No.  2. 
Winship,  George  Parker.     History.     Fourteenth  Annual  Report,  Bu 

reau  of  American  Ethnology. 


y^tev 


INDEX. 


Abo,  65. 

Acoma,  60,  64,  68,  73;   dress  from, 

87;  kivas,  76;  population  of,  65; 

types  of  houses,  71. 
Adobe,  building  material,  72,  73. 
Agave,  used  as  food,  138. 
Agriculture,   18,  39-40,  79,  80-83, 

85,  136-137;  implements  used  in, 

82. 

Aguas  Calient es,  66. 
Algonkin  languages,  178. 
Altars,  57,  107,  111;  antelope,  118; 

snake,  117. 

Alvarado,  Hernando  de,  60. 
Animals,  creation  of,  124. 
Antelope,  hunting  of,  84. 
Apache,  65,  178. 
Aprons,  49. 
Arrows,  54. 
Art,  108;  decorative,  96;  symbolic, 

96-97. 
Athapascan,  languages,  179;  tribes, 

127-130. 
Awatobi,  64. 
Awls,  use  of,  52. 
Axes,  53. 

Balcony  House,  34. 

Bandelier,  A.  F.,  108,  110. 

Baskets,  45;  ceremonial,  94;  ma 
terial  used,  145,  149,  150;  meth 
ods  of  making,  45-46,  145,  146, 
147,  149,  150;  Navajo,  158-159. 

Batten  stick,  52. 

Bells,  copper,  56. 

Bay  eta  blankets,  156. 


Beadwork,  160. 

Bear  dance,  170. 

Belts,  87,  154-156. 

Benavides,  136. 

Bernalillo,  65. 

Blankets,  cotton,  48;  feather,  49; 
Hopi,  156,  157;  Navajo,  87,  142, 
154. 

Blanket-weaving,  origin  of,  157- 
158. 

Breech  cloth,  86. 

Buckskin,  used  for  clothing,  85,  140. 

Buffalo,  hunted,  8,  11,  12,  58,  61, 
79,  84,  136,  139. 

Bullroarers,  119. 

Burial,  24,  57,  104,  105,  162;  bas 
kets  found  with,  45,  46;  in  caves, 
56. 

Cacique,  99,  105,  108-109,  110. 

Cactus,  used  for  food,   139. 

Canyon    de  Chelly,    21. 

Casa  Grande,  22,  27. 

Casas  Grandes,  22. 

Castaneda,  Pedro  de,  64,  66,  67,  72, 

78,  79,  99,  104,  106. 
Cavate  lodges,  38-39. 
Caves,  natural,  39. 
Ceilings,  28,  34,  73. 
Ceremonies,  clan,  100;    originators 

of,  125. 

Chaco  Canyon,  21,  24. 
Chamuscado,  Francisco  Sanchez,  61 
Chemehuevi,  132. 
Chief,  band,  163;  village,  106,  164; 

war,  84,  105,  163. 


187 


188 


INDEX. 


Chiricahua,  128. 

Cibola,  60,  64;   seven  cities  of,  70. 

Clans,  19,  97-98,  160-161;  kivas, 
99,  100. 

Clay,  as  building  material,  72. 

Cliff  Palace,  21,  31. 

Clowns,  in  ceremonies,  171. 

Cochiti,  65,  67,  68. 

Comanche,  11,  68. 

Cooking,  in  the  ground,  84. 

Copper,  use  of,  56. 

Corn,  cooking,  83;  cultivation  of, 
33,  80,  81,  136;  storing,  82. 

Corn  meal,  ceremonial  use  of,  102, 
103,  108,  111. 

Coronado,  Francisco,  Vasquez,  59, 
66. 

Cotton,  cloth,  51, 87;  cultivation  of, 
90,  136,  152,  180;  used  in  weav 
ing,  48. 

Cotton  wood  Creek,  45,  56. 

Coyotero  Apache,  129. 

Cradles,  94. 

Cremation,  56. 

Cuirana,  110,  125,  170. 

Culture,  distribution  of,  181;  re 
lation  of,  182. 

Cushing,  Frank  H.,  84. 

Dancing,  in  puberty  ceremony,  167; 
in  snake  dance,  122. 

Dead,  beliefs  concerning,  173-174. 

Decoration,  of  baskets,  46;  of 
kivas,  76;  Navajo  dresses,  142; 
pottery,  91,  93;  of  walls,  26,  92. 

Designs,  on  bags,  49;  on  baskets, 
47,  145-146,  148-149,  150;  in 
bead  work,  160;  on  Navajo  blan 
kets,  157,  159;  on  pottery,  41, 
42,  44,  45,  93. 

Defense,  means  of,   24. 

Deer  dance,  114. 


Digging-sticks,  117. 

Dress,  85-90, 103-104, 140, 141, 142. 

Doors,  29. 

Doorways,  32,  74. 

Drill  points,  54. 

Dulce  Ruin,  34-35. 

Dyes,  156. 

Earrings,  90. 

Earth,  worship  of,  172. 

Eastern  Apache,  139. 

Espejo,  Antonio  de,  62,  85,  106. 

Estevan,  58,  59. 

Estufas,  78,  79. 

Fauna,  14. 

Fetishes,  84,  118,  166. 

Fewkes,  Dr.  J.  W.,  98. 

Firedrill,  124. 

Fire-making,  54. 

Fireplaces,  33,  73. 

Fish,  taboos,  84,  139. 

Flageolets,  54. 

Floors,  73. 

Flora,  14. 

Flute  ceremony,  114,  123. 

Food,  methods  of  securing,  79-83, 

84-85;    preparation   of,    15,    33? 

83-84,  136-140. 
Footraces,  121. 
Forestry,  17. 
Franciscan  missionaries,  19,  61. 

Galisteo   Basin,   pottery  from,  57. 

Games,  164-165. 

Germantown  blankets,  156. 

Geronimo,  129,  163. 

Grand    Gulch,     54,     56;      baskets 

from,  45. 

Gran  Quivira,  22,  65. 
Guessing  game,  165. 
Guzman,  Nuno  de,  58. 


INDEX. 


189 


Hair,  method  of  dressing,  88;   used 

in  weaving,  88. 
Hales,  Henry,  42. 
Hano,  pueblo  of,  64,  68. 
Havasupai,  131,  178. 
Head  form,  177-178. 
Healing  ceremony,  170. 
Hodge,  F.  W.,  41,  98. 
Hoop  and  pole  game,  164. 
Hopi,  60,  64,  67,  68,  71,  73,  74,  76, 

79,  81,  83,  84,  93,  94,  98,  99,  131, 

156-157,  158,  178. 
Houses,  18,  70-74,  133,   134,  135- 

136. 

Hrdlicka,  Dr.  A.,  177. 
Hunting,  41,  80,  84-85,   106,   139. 
Hupa,  79. 

Images,  stone,  107. 

Irrigation,  40-41,  80-81,  106,  137, 

180. 
Isleta  del  Sur,  65. 

Jemez,  66,  68,  71,  76. 
Jicarilla  Apache,  128,  132,  140,  142, 
145,  146,  169,  172. 

Kachinas,  125,  167;  ceremonies, 
114,  116;  dances,  110;  dolls,  115. 

Keresan,  clans,  99;  kivas,  76; 
language,  68,  179. 

Kilts,  86. 

Kiowa,  11. 

Kivas,  24,  30,  33,  36,  106,  113,  115, 
117. 

Koshare,  110,  125,  170. 

Laguna,  68. 
Language,  68,  70,  178. 
Leggings,  89,  142. 
Lightning  frames,  119. 
Little  Colorado  River,  42. 
Llanero,  128,  169. 


Looms,  51,  77,  154,  155-156. 
Los  Muertos,  40. 

Marau  ceremony,  123. 

Maricopa,  131. 

Marriage,  102-103,  161. 

Masks,  78. 

Masonry,  72. 

Matsaki,  64. 

Matthews,    Dr.    Washington,    160, 

171. 

Mendoza,  Antonio  de,  58. 
Mesa  Verde  region,  56. 
Mescalero  Apache,   128,   132,   145, 

173. 

Mesquite,  as  food,  138. 
Metates,  33,  53,  73-74,  83. 
Mimbrenos  Apache,  128. 
Mindeleff,  Victor,  73. 
Mishongnovi,  68,  71-72. 
Moccasins,  89,  140,  142. 
Moenkapi,  68. 
Mogollon  Mountains,  14. 
Mohave  Apache,  131. 
Mohave,  131,  137. 
Mother-in-law  taboo,  162. 
Myths,  174. 

Nambe,  68,  114. 

Names,  101-102. 

Narvaez,  58. 

Navajo,  87,  94,  130,  140,  160,  171, 

173,  175,  178. 
Nelson,  N.  C.,  57,  66. 
New  Galicia,  58,  60. 
Niza,  Marcos  de,  59. 
Night  Chant,  171. 
Niman  kachiria,  114,  115. 
Nordenskiold,  G.,  34. 
Nomadic  peoples,   distribution   of, 

127-132. 
Nutria,  70,  81.. 


190 


INDEX. 


Ojo  Caliente,  64,  70,  81. 

Ollero,  128,  169. 

Omaha,  61. 

Onate,  Juan  de,  62,  72. 

Ooqol  ceremony,  123. 

Oraibi,  72,  94,  121. 

Ornaments,  of  turquoise,  159. 

Paintings,  dry,  107,  111;  ceremon 
ial,  169,  170;  on  walls,  32. 

Pajarito  Plateau,  22,  24..  25,  56. 

Papago,  130. 

Pawnee,  61. 

Pecos,  pueblo  of,  22,  106. 

Pescado,  81. 

Pestles,  53. 

Phratries,  98-99. 

Physical  characteristics,  176,  177, 
178. 

Picuris,  66,  68,  88. 

Pima,  130,  145,  161,  164. 

Pinon,  for  food,  83,  137. 

Piro,  65,  119. 

Plains  Indians,  relations  with,  11, 
12. 

Pojoaque,  pueblo,  68. 

Political  organization,  105-107,  163- 
164. 

Pollen,  ceremonial  use  of,  111. 

Pottery,  41,  43,  45,  90-92,  142,  144, 
145. 

Prayer  offerings,  108,  112,  166; 
sticks,  112,  116,  119,  120. 

Prayers,  in  snake  dance,  119. 

Property  rights,  99,  100. 

Puberty  ceremony,  166,  167. 

Pueblo  Bonito,  21,  24,  36-38,  43, 
44,  54. 

Puye,  24. 

Quara,  22,  65. 
Quirix,  65 


Quivira,  61 

Rabbitskins,  used  for  clothing,  140. 

Race,  170. 

Rain,  ceremony  for,   108,   111. 

Rainfall,  11,  14,  1.7. 

Rattles,  54,  116,  170. 

Rebellion,  cause  of,  62. 

Religious  beliefs,  124-126;  practices, 
107-124. 

Rio  Chama,  ruins,  22. 

Rio  Grande  pueblos,  68,  72;  cere 
monies  of,  112;  clans  of,  98. 

Rio  Verde,  22. 

Ruins,  prehistoric,  21,  22,  30-34, 
35,  36,  39. 

Salinas,  65. 

Salt  River,  26. 

San  Carlos  Apache,  129. 

San  Cristobal,  66. 

Sandals,  46-48,  140. 

Sandia,  mountains,  66;   pueblo,  68. 

Sand  paintings.  170. 

San  Felipe,  65:  68,  71. 

San  Francisco,  peaks,  115;  river,  42. 

San  Ildefonso,  63,  67,  68,  71,  92. 

San  Juan,  21,  42,  68,  71,  76,  93. 

San  Martial,  65. 

Santa  Ana,  65  68. 

Santa  Clara,  68,  71,  76,  92. 

Santo  Domingo,  65,  68,  71. 

Sevilleta,  65. 

Sheep,  introduction  of,  90.  140,  152. 

Shelters,  74,  132. 

Shields,  106. 

Shipaulovi,  68,  71. 

Shoshonean  language,  179. 

Shrines,  107,  108. 

Shumopovi,  68,  72. 

Sia,  65,  68,  108,  111-112. 

Sichumovi,  68. 


INDEX. 


191 


Silverwork,  142,  158. 

Snake,  dance,  114, 117-124;  homed, 

125. 
Social,  customs,   18,   101-105,  161- 

163;    organization,  97-100,  160- 

161. 

Societies,  109-110. 
Socorro,  65. 

Songs,  ceremonial,  167,  168,  171. 
Spaniards,  arrival  of,  19. 
Spider  Woman,  125. 
Spindles,  52,  154. 
Springs,  sacred,  111. 
Spruce  Tree  House,  21,  34. 
Stature,  177. 

Stevenson,  Mrs.  M.  C.,  108,  111. 
Sun,  worship,  173. 

Tabira,  see  Gran  Quivira. 

Taboos,  84,  139,  162. 

Tales,  175. 

Tanoan  language,  68,  179. 

Tanos,  66. 

Taos,  66,  68,  71,  78,  84,  88,  113. 

Tesuque,  68. 

Tewa,  179;   clans,  98,  99. 

Throwing  sticks,  84. 

Thunder  Mountain,  64,  67,  106. 

Tiguex,  65,  67,  106. 

Tipis,  132. 

Tiwa,  179. 

Totemism,  97,  100. 

Tovar,  don  Pedro  de,  60. 

Trade,  12,  56,  85. 

Tufa,  building  material,  25. 

Tularosa  pottery,  43,  45. 


Turquoise,  54,  90. 
Tusayan,  60,  64. 
Tutahaco,  65. 

Ute,  12,  68,  132,  170. 

Vaca,  Cabeza  de,  58. 
Vargas,  Diego  de,  63. 
Vegetable  food,  80,  83,  137. 
Villages,  farming,  70,  81. 

Walapai,  131,  178. 

Walls,  construction  of,  27-28,  31; 

ornamentation,  72,  73. 
Walpi,  64,  68,  72. 
Waifare,  18,  106. 
War  gods,  125. 
Watch  towers,  24,  34. 
Water  jars,  146,  149. 
Weapons,  106. 
Weaving,  45,  46-48,  51,  87,  94-95, 

152-158,    180. 

Western  Apache,    139,    173. 
White  Mountain  Apache,  129. 
Winds,  worship  of,  173. 

Ximena,  66. 

Yavapai,  130,  131,  145. 
Yucca,  for  food,  138. 
Yucca  fiber,  49,  87,  140.' 
Yuma,  131,  137;   languages,  180. 
Yuqueyunque,  66. 
Yurok,  79. 

Zufii,  60,  64,  67,  70,  71,  73,  78,  81- 
82,  84,  88,  94,  99. 


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